Have you ever complained to your mother for drawing back the curtains to rouse you before your alarm goes off? The abrupt influx of bright sunlight can make you react like a vampire exposed to daylight. However, it appears that she may have had a valid point. Research published in the journal Building and Environment has shown that exposure to natural light can facilitate waking up, making the process of getting out of bed somewhat less painful.

How natural morning light helps you

Waking up in the morning and saying farewell to your bed is tremendously challenging when all you want is five more minutes of sleep. You feel groggy, and your vision is still blurry from sleep. But natural morning light, served at the right time, is your knight in shining armour, rescuing you from the back-and-forth of drowsiness, snoozing alarms, and eventually running late.

The study suggested natural light affected people's alertness. The researchers conducted experiemnts and asked 19 university students to sleep there on three different nights. On all three nights, the wakeup light was switched.

It included three lights:

• Natural light started 20 minutes before wake-up time.
• Natural light started at dawn and continued until wake-up.
• No light before wake-up.

Timing matters

The third lighting, no light before wake-up, is ruled out. That is, the room stayed completely dark until the alarm rang and woke the person up, with the curtains still drawn. When people wake up like this, it's naturally abrupt, and they are still very sleepy, taking more time to get out of bed.

Now, coming to the natural light setting, the second one. Natural light from dawn is effective but not as much. This is when the curtains are drawn as soon as the sun starts rising, which is much earlier than the actual wake-up time. While letting in the sun early may be a good idea, it may interrupt your deep sleep, making your sleep quality go down, so by the time your alarm rings, you don't feel as fresh.

The winner is letting natural light enter your room 20 minutes before you wake up or before your alarm rings. It’s like the sunlight is gently nudging you, preparing your brain and body to wake up smoothly.

So, the next time you lash out at your mother for yanking open the curtains before your alarm goes off, maybe hold back and thank her instead for saving your day from sleepy mood swings.

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