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Entity reports on the best way to become a morning person.

At the sound of your alarm clock, you groan and rub your eyes – smudging the leftover mascara into even more obnoxious raccoon eyes – and ask yourself again why you thought going forgoing your beauty sleep on Sunday night was a good idea. At this point, you’ve become the woman who promises herself to start going to bed earlier. But every week, you end up watching “The Late, Late Show” and relying on three cups of coffee before noon instead.

The truth is, you’re a night owl dreaming of being a morning dove. Is changing your sleeping habits even possible? If so, how? Here’s the facts, stats and stories you should know about transforming your sleeping habits – and, as a result, your awake life and overall health.

Sleeping Basics

Have you ever told your friend who’s always begging you to join her for a 5:00 a.m. Zumba class that your “body just doesn’t work that way”? That’s actually a more valid excuse than you might realize. BBC reports that researchers at the University of Surrey have isolated a gene called “Period 3” that determines whether someone is an early or late person.

Your own brain could be against you, too. As Bustle explains, studies have found that night owls tend to have less white matter in the brain, which contains fatty tissue that helps speed up the transmission of neural signals. This could result in, as head researcher Jessica Rosenberg put it, a feeling of “permanent jet leg.”

Dr. Nathaniel Watson tells BBC that an area in the brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus might also be to blame. This tiny area of the brain greatly impacts a person’s circadian rhythm. Although people’s lifestyle, friends and family, hobbies and age can influence when they wake up, BBC reports that genes determine 50 percent of people’s sleeping patterns.

Feel like all of these facts are putting you to sleep? Just know that your genes may be just as responsible for that afternoon nap!

Is Change Possible?

To put it simply: yes. As Dr. Gary Richardson explains to Slate “I do think there are people for whom this is going to be much harder, but nobody for whom it’s impossible.”

Ready to work? Check out the tips below for the best chance of no-snooze success.

Transformation Tips

  • Focus on waking up, not just going to bed.

Even before you try to tackle your night owl tendencies, try to become a morning dove by choosing a new wake-up time. You might be thinking, “I work! I already have one and wake up at 7 AM everyday!” Except…you probably really don’t. Do you abuse the “snooze” button or wake up early on weekdays but sleep till noon on weekends? If so, pick a wake-up time and stick to it. Every. Single. Day. According to Bustle, studies have shown that a consistent wake-up time is a morning dove’s secret weapon. One pro tip: don’t pick a new time that’s more than two hours earlier than your regular time. Slow and steady change wins the race (out of bed)!

  • Put a leash on your light.

Think back to the last time you watched your computer turn on and off. When it’s off, the screen is back; when it turns on, cue a blindingly white screen! Your brain works somewhat similarly. As Slate explains, light triggers your brain to turn off melatonin, a hormone that promotes drowsiness. This means that in the morning, you should literally say, “Hello!” to the sun (preferably by going for a short walk soon after waking) to wake yourself up.

At night, do the opposite by avoiding bright lights or even wearing yellow sunglasses, which blocks blue light (the light the brain responds to most)…and, as you’ve probably heard before, a good night’s sleep also calls for turning off phones and TVs at least an hour before bed. Bye, bye Letterman.

  • Edit your eats and exercise.

You may think that you’re being super healthy by going to a HIIT class at your gym after work and gorging on a huge kale salad afterward…but you may want to reconsider. Dr. Kenny Pang tells BBC that morning dove wannabes should ditch coffee after 2:00 PM, avoid exercising four hours before their target bedtimes and enjoy a big lunch with a small breakfast and dinner. Who knew turning into Sleeping Beauty would be so high maintenance?

Should you do it?

The most important question you should ask yourself at the end of the day, though, is whether you should try changing your sleep schedule at all. BBC cautions wannabe reformists that the best sleep often occurs between 11 PM and 7 AM and that getting eight hours of solid sleep is more important than waking up and going to bed early. Basically? To each bird his (or her) own!

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