Action Steps:

1. Get Unfiltered Sunlight in Your Eyes in the Morning

Numerous studies have shown that getting even 10-15 minutes of sunlight in the morning helps you have more energy all day and sleep more deeply at night. Some studies have shown that morning sun exposure even competes with prescription antidepressants for lifting mood. Go out without glasses or contacts (provided you can see well enough to be safe!), face the sun, and do cardio, stretch, take a walk, or even sit and read the paper or have breakfast outside.

2. Wake up and Move

Along similar lines, get at least 10 minutes (better, get 20-30minutes) of activity in the morning before you eat breakfast. If you can’t find time for full workouts in the AM, go for a power walk, or a few brisk trips up and down the stairs. Even a brief bout of exercise will help wake up your metabolism and translate into more energy throughout the whole of the morning, in addition to shaping your circadian rhythm, delivering all of the benefits we talk about above.

3. Turn down the lights and listen to music or read in moderate light after 9 or 10pm

We’ve talked about the fact that sunlight wakes us up in the morning, and that getting out in the sun when you first get out of bed is a great way to start your day. Natural sunlight wakes us up more effectively than artificial light, but artificial light also sends our bodies a wake up call. The take home message is that bright lights at night make it difficult to fall asleep. If you sit under a bright light from 8:30 to 11pm and/or watch TV, bombarding your eyes with light, you confuse your body clock, making it harder for you to fall asleep. The worst culprit in this regard is computer screens, which put out a tremendous amount of light. A lot of people find that their difficulties getting to sleep at night diminish when they swear off the computer after 8 or 9 pm and spend the evening talking, reading in moderate light, or listening to music. Check out Sleeping Well for more on getting a good night's sleep.