On May 9, mountain guide Simon Kearns stepped onto the asphalt at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park — just 3 hours, 43 minutes and 52 seconds after setting off earlier that morning.

Morning depression isn't a clinical diagnosis, but it's very real—and it can make starting the day feel unbearable.

You sit down to start a task you care about. Nothing happens. You open your phone instead. Minutes turn into hours. You feel restless, flat, or oddly exhausted, even though you haven’t done much at ...