Why Are You Waking Up Tired?

Advice from the experts on how to reap the full benefits of sleep

Photo by Alin Rusu on Unsplash

This morning, when my husband nudged me awake, I groaned.

“How’s it going?” he asked, already irritatingly showered and changed.

I groaned again.

Despite having turned off Love Is Blind mid-episode (a Herculean feat) and gone to sleep at a decent hour the night before, I still felt exhausted. Sound familiar?

What’s the problem? I wondered, as I willed myself to get up and start another day.

What was making me so tired? Was it existential dread after two years of pandemic? Encroaching anxiety about everything from the Supreme Court to World War III? The chronic stress of the mental load that plagues my dreams, conjuring scenarios of high school pop quizzes two decades later? Was it the vegan ice cream pop I ate before bed?

Yum. Ice cream.

The prospect of dessert finally got me up.

The truth is that lately, I wake up tired every morning no matter when I went to bed, despite the fact that my energy should objectively be improving. The weather is getting warmer. I have two small children, yes. But I get to sleep later than many parents, as we live only three blocks from school. My kids…