For some people, there comes a time during adulthood when waking up in the morning becomes easier. For some of us, however, getting up early will be a lifelong struggle. Luckily, there are a few things you can do for yourself to make dragging your barely-awake self out of bed a little bit less stressful.

A successful wake-up starts the evening before

Although getting to bed earlier is an obvious piece of advice, there are other things you should be doing in the evening in order to fall asleep faster and roll out of bed more willingly in the morning.

1. Plan your outfit

Laying out your clothes before bedtime isn’t just for little kids! Whether it’s your gym clothes or your clothes for the office, take a few minutes before bedtime to select your wardrobe. You can sleep easy knowing there’s one less thing to do in the morning. This also helps prevent the panic in the morning when you realize the shirt you wanted to wear is still in the wash.

2. Make a “morning zombie” checklist

When you first wake up, your brain just isn’t ready to make decisions or solve problems. You might not even be capable of reliably completing daily tasks like remembering to take your vitamins or brush your teeth. That’s where your morning zombie list comes in. Keep a checklist by your bed of every single task in your wakeup routine, from “go to the bathroom” to “put on shoes” to “put keys in pocket.” You’ll not only lower your chances of forgetting something, but you’ll also learn to be more realistic about how long it takes you to get ready in the morning.

3. Do a “brain dump”

Sometimes, sleep inertia is caused by having gone to bed with too many things on your mind, so you either can’t fall asleep or your sleep is of poor quality. Using a basic notebook or an app like To-Do Adventure, empty your mind of everything you need to do in the coming days and add it to a list to review later. You’ll be amazed at how much more easily you can fall asleep and how much less stressful it is to get up in the morning when you’ve already done a brain dump and cleared away the random to-dos cluttering your mind.

Extra tip: Manage your water intake for better sleep

There's one more thing that might be affecting your sleep, both in length and quality, and that's your bladder! If you're always running to the bathroom desperate to pee when you wake up, or if your bladder is interrupting your slumber at 3 a.m., you might want to read this before you go to bed tonight: Morning Urgency: Why do I wake up desperate to pee?