A productive day starts with a great morning, and you can't have a great morning if you didn't get any rest the night before. This simple five-part formula will help you get to bed earlier, sleep better and wake up feeling rested.

Recently, the editorial staff of Lifehacker and our sister sites needed to congregate in the office at 10:00AM sharp. The people announcing this thanked us for showing up “at such an ungodly hour”. I grinned and arrived, as I usually do, at 8:55ish. I’m regularly the first Lifehacker staffer in the office. Partly because it looks good, but mostly because I am lazy and self-indulgent.

What we do in the morning can establish our mood for the rest of the day, so a lot of our wake-up advice boils down to doing what you actually need and want to do. Which means it’s time to confront that little box that keeps interrupting you to tell you what to think. Your phone.

Everyone wakes up differently, but most people agree that the snooze button is bad.

But I would like you to consider a different opinion. I would like you to consider that the snooze button is good.

Until about a few months ago, I was that person who rushes around in the morning, trying to get ready as quickly as possible to ensure I arrived to work early. Once there, I would get a jump on my day, before starting the actual full work day, too nervous about arriving or filing a piece late to stop for a cup of coffee.

If you’re naturally a night owl, dragging yourself out of bed early is challenge enough. There’s no need to add meditation, journaling, a five km run and a head start on emails on top of that. If mornings are hard, your morning routine should be easy.

Lifehacker readers love a good to-do list list. We’re goal-oriented, and we like to feel a sense of accomplishment. But what happens when you’re not making as much progress as you’d like?

We all have mornings where we want nothing more than to stay in our beds, warm and comfortable, all day. If you're having a morning like that, stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius suggests you look to your true nature as a human being.

Video: If you feel sluggish when you sit down at your desk every morning, this quick mini-workout will get your blood flowing and your brain powered up. You don't even have to get out of your chair.

iOS: There's no shortage of alarm clock apps to choose from, and many of them have creative ways of making sure you get out of bed. UHP Alarm Clock forces you to get out of bed by tracking your path.

If you share a bathroom, or worse, share a bathroom with kids, getting ready in the morning can be tough. Consider giving everyone a "morning routine kit", with one place for all of their toiletries and one place to store them all. One tote, no cleanup, a more organised bathroom and an effortless morning.

Working out in the morning helps get your energy up for the day, and this 15 minute full body routine is perfect for a quick, energetic start in the morning that will also help keep you in good shape and high spirits all day long.

Most of us could do with some improvements to our daily routine. Because nothing much changes during the work week, it's easy to slip on 'autopilot' and sleepwalk through each day. Instead, you should be adding order to all this monotony -- from your morning routine to the daily commute home. This infographic contains 44 ways to hack the daily grind.

If you can't get through your mornings without a few jolts of caffeine in your system, it might be time to lay off coffee for a while. (This goes doubly if you like to pile on the cream and sugar.) For a healthier and non-addictive alternative, try starting your day with an apple or banana instead.

iOS: If you have a hard time waking up, join the club. It's so tempting to hit snooze in the morning and return to the comfort of your pillow. Barcode Alarm Clock is an alarm clock app that forces you to start your day by making you scan your toothpaste's barcode to turn it off.