How to train myself to get up earlier

[kaleishorrid]

On the days that I do not have to get up I cannot get myself up before 10.30.

I didn't used to be so bad but since Christmas I am like a bloody teenager.

I know that i get more done and feel better for getting up earlier but I just cannot do it at the moment. I worked a lot in January and so part of it that I am still tired. Also I am rubbish at going to bed - I'll faff around or watch rubbish on tv instead of going to bed.

I am an adult (53) - how do I get my arse in gear!

Thanks in advance

Lurk.

You just have to get up! Set an alarm, it won’t happen naturally.

Let to my own devices I’d go to bed late and get up at 10.30 ish too. Change of job meant I had to leave by 6.40am and my body did retrain to go to sleep early and get up early. But not without feeling knackered while it retrained.

You could try leaving your curtains open a crack and the light might wake you naturally as it's light around 7am now.

I think we are all out of whack with lockdowns days run into each other and maybe this is why you are sleeping late, l mean if you are not working there is sod all else to do.

If you want to get out of the habit you are need to be stricter with your routine and maybe set an alarm for the same time every day.

I am naturally a night owl

When I have to get up early I set an alarm, that's all you can do.

If there's no compulsion, I just go back to sleep!

How are you feeling generally op ?

A natural night owl here as well.

During lockdown this has accentuated I could pretty much flipped to totally nocturnal if I let myself. My natural waking up time seems to be 10-10.30am. But when I need to get up - alarm clock is fine.

Look at this from another angle - do you currently need to get up at say 7.30am? If you don't need to then given the weird situation we're all in, I'd let your body decide how it wants to be. As long as you're doing everything you need to do each day, it doesn't matter when that day starts. I've always found I work better late into the evening. So that's what I'm doing.

As and when life is back to normal and the 9-5 is required, you can be back on track really quickly.

Some of us are night owls - embrace your inner night owl!!

I could have written this. I plan to get up earlier, but then I get to the morning, wake up, and just think what's the point? I have very little to do most of the time, DP is at work most of the day, so it's just a case of giving me even more hours to sit in the house on my own, trying to find something to do. So I inevitably fall asleep again after DP leaves for work, and then when I wake up again I feel like utter crap - whereas I was quite wide awake at 7.30!

I just cannot bring myself to get up at 7.30 though, knowing I'd then have 10 hours of just sitting in on my own. It sucks.

FWIW when I NEED to get up, I can. I just can't seem to if I don't have to.

Set your alarm early one day, and try to have a really busy day so you are tired early, and go to bed early.

The key to getting up early is going to sleep early, so you need to make sure you're tired enough to sleep!

Getting up at different times on different days messes with your body clock, just like jet lag. It's best to try and stick to the same routine every day.

Rather than training yourself to get up early, it's easier to train yourself to go to bed early and have a set routine. It will be a lot easier to get up if you aren't tired. Try to practice good sleep hygiene, no caffeine in the evenings, night mode on screens, no TV for at least 30 mins before bed, take a bath if that helps you relax, no exercise late in the evening etc You might find it helps if you switch to listening to an audio book in bed instead of watching TV.

Waking up naturally with light is definitely better than an alarm but if you leave the curtains open, that is dictated by sunrise so a daylight lamp is easier. It helps to have a morning routine that is as easy as possible and you enjoy. Don't just rush into the day (unless that is what makes you feel good). Do something pleasurable first whether that is 10 minutes enjoying a cup of coffee listening to the news or music, or going for a run, or 10 minutes meditating. Put the coffee machine on a timer with a smart plug so the coffee is ready and waiting or put your running clothes out the night before so you are ready to go.

Glad to see it's not just me! It has definitely been made worse by lockdown. When I was going out to work I had to be up in time to drive to work, get myself sorted and be ready to work for 9. I used to even get up early enough to do a bit of yoga or meditation before leaving for work. Now because I only have to be at work in my daughter's bedroom (she is at Uni) in front of the computer at 9 sometimes I am only getting in to the shower at 8.30.

I used to get up at about 9 at the weekend which felt like a lovely lie in - and I would have a cup of tea, have a look at the telly or read the papers, meet a friend for coffee/lunch. Now I get up, have a cup of tea and am chasing my tail all day. And have no energy- which is the worst.

As far as how as how I feel generally- lockdown is starting to get to me but it shouldn't as we are safe and well and luckily none of our nearest and dearest have been badly affected. On a slightly different note I feel I am not getting any benefit from my HRT and am thinking of coming off it - I have been taking it for about 2 years now.

I would love to be the kind of person who feels like getting up at 8am is a lie in - you must get so much more done.

I am still in my dressing gown.

I am not lazy - I do work hard when needed, although have no inclination for housework at the moment. Only me and DH here so it's not awful but could probably do with a Hoover and wash of bathroom and kitchen floors.

Following with interest and hope. I have the same problem. I'm currently sleeping in until around 10am. I've tried setting an alarm but I keep sleeping through it! Doesn't matter how early I go to bed, I just can't wake up earlier.

The thing is OP, if you get up early and get stuff done, what's the difference in getting up late and getting stuff done? One does not preclude the other, unless your day is naturally ending when those who were up at 6am does.

Truthfully though, set an alarm and get straight up. DO NOT SNOOZE. You have to get up anyway, so just do it immediately and get it out the way. I used to use an app called Alarmy that you could set tasks for, the one I used the most was the photo function. You set the alarm for X time and to turn it off you have to take a photo of an item you have previously photographed, I used to use the wooden sail boat on my bathroom windowsill. I would have to take the exact photo stored in my phones memory before the alarm switched off. There's also brain tasks etc if that's more your thing.

Set your alarm (very loudly) and put it on the other side of the room or even in a different room, so you have to get up and out of bed to turn it off.

Don't beat yourself up. I hate all this 'lazy' labelling from early risers (not on this thread, but in general).

Have something nice to get up for- nice coffee, bath, croissants etc. Otherwise embrace it.

Set your alarm for 10:20 tomorrow, 10:10 the next day?

Champagne and Coffee have it.

Embrace your night owl. Us later risers are not lazy for not enjoying being up with the lark. And trust me, going to bed earlier makes no difference for me, I just lie there wide awake until 1-2am however tired I am, so I might as well be up and being productive. Some of us just have differently set body clocks. I do wonder sometimes if some insomniacs are just night owl but haven't realised it yet.

There is evidence that this is genetic. It is a very cruel thing that those whose natural body clocks are just set later than the "working day" norm are perpetually at a disadvantage in terms of energy, alertness, etc., compared to others who happen to have earlier internal clocks.

I have chosen a career that enables me to go to sleep at 3am and wake up at 11am 90% of the time, pandemic or no pandemic. I can't sleep much earlier than that, so just become unwell if I have to get up after only 4 or 5 hours sleep, day in day out. I wasn't willing to make myself ill and unhappy when I am massively sharp, productive, and successful working late into the night.

My husband's work means that he doesn't have to get up until about 10 am most days. He is definitely a night owl. To be fair I'm not sure that I'm really a night owl as I do feel better for getting up earlier – maybe I am just quite depleted and need to restore myself.

When I was talking about faffing around in the evenings it's just because I am too lazy to get myself into bed. I am usually quite tired. And because I feel tired most of the time at the moment I am not reading when I get into bed – which I also miss.

It seems that I have more than one issue

@kaleishorrid

My husband's work means that he doesn't have to get up until about 10 am most days. He is definitely a night owl. To be fair I'm not sure that I'm really a night owl as I do feel better for getting up earlier – maybe I am just quite depleted and need to restore myself.

When I was talking about faffing around in the evenings it's just because I am too lazy to get myself into bed. I am usually quite tired. And because I feel tired most of the time at the moment I am not reading when I get into bed – which I also miss.

It seems that I have more than one issue

I can relate in that when I had to be up early for work, I'd still faff before bed due to being naturally awake at that time. My body clock doesn't reset into lark.

I now have to send myself to bed but also have insomnia so don't want to go too early. I may not have insomnia really but have to fit round work to some extent.

It sounds like your life can accommodate your natural inclination so
I'd just go with it. Are you getting enough sleep? Do you need to put PJs in or brush teeth at a set time to signal bed?