Tips for getting up early

I also think if you're not neurotypical you have to disregard some aspects of neurotypical advice.

For example someone said that a single allowed snooze helps them. I agree. I feel assaulted and jarred when I have an alarm that I have to immediately respond to with movement. Likewise I hate showering when I've just woken up, it makes me feel horrible - most people say that it helps them. For me it's just too much, it's a sensory overload. I shower at a different time of day, most commonly mid-morning, sometimes evening.

And another piece of common advice is NOT to go on your phone/open social media as soon as you wake up. But, again, doing this actually helps me. I don't know whether it's related to dopamine - I just read somewhere else that dopamine will suppress melatonin, and if you have ADHD then you're not producing enough dopamine which would explain feeling extra sleepy on waking. Social media feeds the dopamine system, which is why it can be unhelpful - and you do need some kind of backup system to prevent the scenario where you're still in bed 2 hours later scrolling/dozing/scrolling. But it can give me the boost to stay awake long enough to get out of that lizard "back to sleeeeeeep" instinct.

Lastly a few people have mentioned alarms which are placed, or move away from the bed, this is a useful option, but the downside of it is that they tend to need to be very loud, which can disturb other people, and if it's in the same room, then I don't know about other people but if it's in the same room then it's still close enough that I'll turn it off and then find it very hard to fight the urge to crawl immediately back into bed, especially if it's cold.

Gamechanger I found for this is to use an app which makes you scan a barcode, NFC chip, QR code, or similar. (There are some which use photos but I think this is glitchy due to inconsistent lighting). This way, the source of the NOISE can be close to you, meaning that it can be quite quiet and not disturb others, you can also have it use vibration etc, but the source of the being-able-to-turn-it-off is further away, so you actually have to get out of bed and be some distance away from your bed by the time it is deactivated. For me, the best place I've found to put it is in my bathroom, because I always need a wee when I've just woken up and that gives me a reason to stay in there even longer, further bypassing that "must return to sleep" stage.

Someone said about making it warm when you get up - YES. If you feel uncomfortable having a heater on a timer, buy a warm cosy dressing gown or a "fake oodie". Primark and supermarkets are probably getting them in around now. Buy two so you can have one in the wash. And slippers/cosy socks too. I don't want to leave my duvet, so I effectively have a duvet I can bring with me.

Alexa now has a function where the lights can come on to mimic sunrise. This is linked to your alarm so can be set for any time. Helps me waking up with the lights already on!

Some information here. I was surprised how accurate it was for me.

@aSpanielintheworks I get up for work at 9am, I'm lucky if the springer spaniel here shows his face downstairs before 11am. Have I been unlucky and got a faulty one? Kidding of course, I adore him!

Get an early rising husky. The awoos to get you up are mostly amusing, but avoiding waking the neighbours is a brilliant motivator, I find 😁

Get a Spaniel!

I'm a night owl. Ancestry Traits confirmed this.

How do they confirm this? Sounds interesting.

I also get up at 5am and still struggle to get to bed.

I'm a night owl. Ancestry Traits confirmed this. Unfortunately, I have to wake up at 5.15 am for work. I usually sleep around 11pm.

The Lumie alarm clock has been a game changer and a hungry cat demanding to be fed.

You can’t just do it straight away if you’re not used to it.
Like any other habit you need to work it gradually into a routine by setting your alarm 15 mins earlier each week and lights off to go to sleep 15 mins earlier as well.
You also need to work out how many hours sleep is optimal for you personally. For me it’s between 6-8 hours so I make sure I’m in bed ready for lights out 8 hrs before I want to get up.
Never use snooze buttons. One alarm and get straight up.
It would be easier to build this habit in the summer months when it’s lighter earlier tbh.

Or simply get a cat and leave your bedroom door open all night. That works too. 🤣

Go to bed earlier, and then get up as soon as the alarm goes off.

I've never been an alarm-snoozer. I set it for the time I need to get up, and when it goes off, I get up.

I'm up and walking out the house to my car within 50 minutes every weekday. And that feels quite leisurely. I can easily do it in 30 if I had to, and 20 if I really hurried.

I get up at 4.50 am every morning for work and most weeks l work at least 6 shifts.
I just force myself up, drink plenty of coffee and know that my bills won't get paid if l dont. Also knowing l finish my shift early, compared to my previous jobs helps.

What time do you go to bed?

I work it all out backwards, so if I know I have to be up at 6am for work, which is quite normal for me, I go to get ready for bed 8.5 hours earlier, so 9.30.

By the time I have ponced around and fallen asleep, it’s 10pm, so I get eight hours sleep and wake before my alarm goes off some days.

I get up @ 4-4.30am for work. I can only get up at that time because I know I have to. Walk 10 miles each day in a physical job and I'm in bed by 8pm and usually asleep by 9pm. On a day off I usually sleep in til about 5.45am.

The trick is having to be up for me. I can't get up at 4am if I don't have to, I just can't do it.

I would say many, if not most, working adults get up earlier than they'd like to most days, regardless of how early they went to bed and how well they slept. That's what coffee's for!

Push through for a few days and the problem will correct itself - firstly needing to go to bed earlier, and secondly sleeping like a log.

Which research shows this please?

Research I have seen shows that 7 is optimal.

"Based on multiple meta-analyses of large cohort studies, the optimal sleep duration for healthy adults is 7-9 hours per night. Sleeping fewer than seven hours and greater than nine hours per night was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in several studies"

https://blog.insidetracker.com/sleep-duration-longevity

Well yes, but you will only be able to 'just do it' without having horrible tiredness/ side effects if you practice good sleep hygiene and get enough sleep.

It's not quite as simple as 'just do it'. You also need to go to bed earlier and make sure you have a relaxing evening routine.

Interestingly, most healthcare experts say somewhere between 7-9 hours is optimal but research shows people that get six live the longest.

I don't recommend snooze buttons or setting 2 alarms unless you're going to do something useful with the time in between (I do it when my partner stays over so we can snuggle!).

You're just cutting into your big, uninterrupted sleep otherwise.

I used to think I couldn't get up in the mornings. Turns out I CAN, but it requires me to go to bed earlier, consistently, and I wasn't prepared to do that.

I need 9hrs. My preference is for 11pm-8am but if I need to get up at 5am I need to be in bed by 8pm to feel good the next day. Not going to happen frequently.

I got up really early this morning - about 7.15 (just over an hour ago). I use a communal laundry, so if I want to be sure of getting in there I have to be early. Reluctant though I am to get up that early most mornings, I always feel better when I do - it means that job's out of the way for a few days, and it gives me twice as long to relax over breakfast (and MN!) before I have to get my mother out of bed. It's also a lot easier than the days when a minimum 90 minute commute meant I had to get up at 5.30!