NEW YORK — Getting up on the wrong side of the bed is more than just a saying. A bad night’s sleep or skipping breakfast could literally derail a person’s entire day. Now, however, a new study has discovered a formula that could ensure you always wake up on the right side of the bed!
British mathematician Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon has come up with an actual equation that should help more people wake up in a good mood and ready to start the day. The formula takes several factors in account which all contribute to how a person feels when they get out of bed. These include the number of hours spent asleep, the time you get up, the time you spend eating breakfast, and how long you give yourself to “get ready” — by doing things like meditating or completing the morning crossword puzzle.
All of those factors and more resulted in the creation of this formula:
Dr. Imafidon’s equation uses the following variables:
- s is minutes spent showering
- e is minutes spent exercising
- b is minutes spent eating breakfast
- h is hours spent sleeping
- w is the difference (in hours) between when you get out of bed and 7:12 a.m.
- c is minutes spent on any other unique “getting ready” activities, divided by 2 (including word puzzles, reading the news, meditating)
- g = 37 (based on the ideal number of minutes to get ready on average, identified by the study)
When you add up all of your numbers, from the time you go to bed until the time you start your day, researchers say the magic number is 37. If you finish with a number higher than that, you’ll wake up on the right side of the bed each morning.
Set your alarm for 6:44
Along with the study, a poll of 2,000 adults found that 6:44 a.m. is the optimum wake-up time when you’re trying to have an ideal morning. Respondents say they try to spend an average of 21 minutes exercising, 10 minutes showering, and 18 minutes eating breakfast each morning.
Survey respondents add that completing activities which stimulate the brain also help them get into the right frame of mind for the rest of their day. These include doing word puzzles, reading the news, meditating, and avoiding their digital devices right after waking up.
The study, commissioned by the makers of Special K Crunchy Oat Granola, used all of these survey results to help construct the new formula. Imafidon says eating breakfast emerged as the most important thing people can do to ensure their day starts on the right foot.
“It’s interesting to see how different factors in our morning routine can set us up for the rest of the day,” the mathematician says in a statement. “Having this formula is a great tool to help start the day right.”
“Not everyone has the same routine but a combination of the different elements should be key to ‘getting out of bed on the right side’ – especially after so many of us admit to regularly getting up in a bad mood.”
3 in 10 regularly get up on the wrong side of the bed
The OnePoll survey also found that the average person wakes up in a bad mood twice a week. Moreover, 29 percent say they regularly wake up on the wrong side of the bed.
That may be because half of the respondents say they get a bad night’s sleep. Another one in three think they’re “stuck in a rut” when it comes to their morning routine.
Four in 10 add they don’t know how to turn their day around when they have a bad morning. On days like these, one in four admit that they’re tired and grumpy until at least 11 a.m. However, the solution may be sitting in the refrigerator, since 28 percent think the main reason they get off to a bad start is skipping breakfast.
