3 doctors recommended this sleep hygiene tip and it's why I'm finally waking up with loads of energy — here's how it works

A woman sits up in bed in a sunny bedroom with with her arms raised above her head, looking ready to jump out of bed. In the top left corner is a Tom's Guide Sleep Week logo.

My eyes close at 11 p.m. and my alarm goes off at 7 a.m. — I should be waking up fresh as a daisy, right? But even though I'm getting eight hours sleep, I spend the morning feeling groggy (this is known as sleep inertia). I asked three doctors why this might be and each said that while my sleep quantity is good, my sleep quality is probably lacking.

"You can spend eight hours in bed but still wake up exhausted if your sleep is fragmented or if you’re not getting enough of the deeper, restorative stages of sleep," explains Dr. Shelby Harris, board-certified sleep specialist at BetterSleep.