Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best things you can do for your body. Being well-rested can help you feel less stressed, have more energy, and become more focused. But sometimes, it’s tough to get a good night’s sleep.

Whether you’ve been tossing and turning for hours or had an hour stolen by Daylight Savings Time, there are times when you’ve probably woken up exhausted. Sometimes, it may not even be your fault, if your bedmate is a heavy snorer! Whatever the reason, a bad night of sleep can make you feel terrible the next day. Short of sleeping the whole day, which may not be an option or helpful, are there ways you can recover? Luckily, the answer to this is that, in the short- and long-term, yes. We have a few simple tricks and tweaks!

For the Next Day

Take a Power Nap

If you need to feel better and more awake quickly, and have the space and are able to, a quick nap is a great way to reenergize yourself during the day. Not only can it help you feel more awake, naps have been shown to relieve stress and improve your mood. Just be sure that any nap you take is around 20 minutes, or at least 90 minutes. A 20-minute power nap allows you to rest without entering deeper stages of sleep. On the other hand, a 90-minute one allows you to go through an entire sleep cycle before waking. Either of these should allow you to wake up rested and ready to go. Fall between the two and you’ll be interrupting a sleep cycle, which could cause you to feel groggy.

Take a Cold Shower

Fresh out of bed, one easy and quick way to give yourself a burst of wakefulness is to take a cold shower. While you may not find it to be the most comfortable start to your morning, evidence shows that cold showers can improve wakefulness. Essentially, the cold water sets off a number of actions in your body in order to keep you warm. This, along with the increase in circulation, are effective at waking you up, at least temporarily. Sometimes, when you have things to get done, a temporary boost to your wakefulness is enough!

Take a Walk in the Sun

If you have the time, take a short walk outside, as long as it’s nice enough out. Walking is a very healthy activity on its own, so any excuse to get out is good, but in regards to waking up, a quick walk may be effective. Light exercise that’s enough to get the blood flowing, but not enough to tire you out, can relieve fatigue by as much as 65 percent according to one study. Simply walking in the sunshine can wake you up, too, since sunshine signals to our brains that it’s time to wake up.

Long-Term Fixes

Get Some Extra Zzz’s But Not Too Many

It takes most people more than a day or two to recover from sleep deprivation, especially if it’s chronic. In fact, it can take up to four days to recover from a single lost hour of sleep. Long-term fixes to prevent more sleepless mornings is the next step. In the meantime, get a little extra sleep over the next week to repay your sleep debt. It’s important that you don’t oversleep, though, since this can cause two issues that can set you back. First, if you sleep in too much, you may not be tired when the evening rolls around and it’s time to go to bed. The other issue is if you consistently oversleep, it may throw off your sleep pattern. Instead, take a lighter touch like going to bed one hour earlier that evening.

Adjust Your Schedule

If you find that you’re consistently tired, it may be wise to adjust your sleep schedule. How you adjust it depends on preferred bedtime and waketime. If you’re retired and don’t have to be up at any given time, simply go to sleep when you’re tired and wake up when your body wakes up. If you normally have things to do in the morning, go to bed an hour earlier. If you are a night owl or work in the evening, you may need to adjust your schedule to wake up later.

Follow Our Easy Sleep Tips

Schedules and extra sleep are great, but if you’re struggling to fall asleep, it won’t do you much good. Luckily, we have you covered in that regard. If you’re having trouble sleeping, check out “Trouble Sleeping? Worry No More with These Tips” to learn ways you can prep your bedroom for sleep, as well as tips to make it easier to sleep when it’s time.

Ensuring you’re getting enough sleep is essential to your overall health and happiness. So, if you have a night of bad sleep, recovering is equally important. Whether you need to add some pep to your step that day or want to prevent sleepless nights in the future, we hope these tips help.