There's nothing worse than being in the middle of a deep sleep, only to be brutally awakened by your alarm yelling at you to wake up. The fix? First, figure out what time you want to wake up. Then count backwards in 90 minutes increments (the length of an average sleep cycle) to get the time you should be falling asleep so your alarm can be more in sync with your sleep patterns.

Speaking of alarms, I've got some good news: You can get back together with your snooze button -- but you have to lay down some ground rules. Your song may have been "Fancy" ever since you first heard it on the radio, but it's time to change it to something new. Hearing the same song (or beeping pattern) over and over again can make it easier to ignore your alarm in the morning. Swapping out your song/tone every few days can keep you from falling into a rut -- and also won't ruin any more of your favorite jams.

It's the weekend, you're out with your friends, and suddenly, you realize that you're out too late and waking up the next morning is going to be particularly awful. In the immortal words of Nike: "Just do it." Waking up at the same time is key to creating a routine that you'll be able to stick with. The silver lining? You can always take a nap later (ideally between the hours of noon and 4 P.M., when you reach the low point of your body's circadian rhythm, to reap the maximum nap-time benefits). Just make sure to keep it around 20 to 30 minutes. If it's any longer, you end up in deep sleep, meaning you may feel even worse after your nap.