Difficulty getting up in the mornings

[SummersBreeze]

I was never a morning person when I was younger and in my early 20s. Somewhere along the way in my 30s getting up early became a litibit easier. During the early days of the pandemic, I found it very easy to get up in the morning. I was getting up easily for 5.30 or 6 or 6.30 in the mornings.

Last summer I found it easy to get up for about 7 am even at weekends. I used to look forward to a dry day and I would look forward to doing laundry and getting a load out on the line. That motivated me to get up early.

Now, I am struggling to get up in the mornings. I'm setting multiple alarms on my phone every night from 6.30 in the morning. They are all put on snooze unitl the last minute of about 8.30 which is too late for me. The the mornings are a mad rush.

I like going to bed on time but that's not happening lately. I am often working late til 8 or sometimes later. By the time I get home, It's too late for dinner but I have something small like waffles. I then have to let that go down because acid reflux is setting in now. So it's after midnight or near 1 or sometimes later but the time I get to bed. I hate it.

Is there any way to make getting up easier. I have a smart watch and the alarm vibrates and rings on my wrist too but even that won't even get me up.

As someone who suffered horrendous insomnia at university to the point I had to go to the GP, the only way, in my opinion, is sleep hygiene and making sure you're actually tired enough to go to sleep at a sensible hour to get enough sleep by the time you have to get up. Every hour before midnight is worth two after, even if you do sleep for 8 hours. You also need to guard against reverse cycling ie going to bed later and later and sleeping in each day as the cycle just gets worse.

I would:
Stop work before dinner and eat a light meal with protein and vegetables
No sugar or caffeine, a late dinner of just waffles sounds like a sugar bomb nightmare
No screens an hour before bed so no TV, minimal phone use
Read a real paper book to wind down
Have a routine like you do for a toddler eg. 9.30pm warm bath, 10pm phone on charge and face down, 10.30pm lights out every night so your body starts expecting to fall asleep at that time

In the morning make sure you get 30 mins natural light in the first hour you're awake to set your body clock, and try and get enough physical exercise of some kind to tire you out. Then by bedtime you should be sleepy enough to go to sleep at a sensible time.

You will have to do this for probably a week to retrain yourself, a bit like getting over jet lag. But it's so worth doing.

You need to tackle the late working, whatever the cause is. No-one retired thinking that they had not spent enough time at work.

The waffles I eat are potato waffles and not the sugary waffles. Often after work it's just too late for a big meal and I like potato waffles.

So after that really helpful and informative post by @Xiaoxiong all you took from it was about the waffles???

I really want a potato waffle now

Have you an Alexa? Set the alarm on it (but put it in another room or downstairs).

Ime you just have to get out of bed at the first alarm. Snoozing is not good; you don't get back to sleep properly.

I say this as someone who had to get up at between 3 and 4.30 am in my time working for one of the Big Four supermarkets.

Try leaving your curtains open so the daylight wakes you up. Only works if you don't have a lamp post or something right outside your window

You can’t get up in the morning because your body needs more sleep. You need to find a way to address the work life balance or at least the late eating. If it’s taking you 4/5 hours after eating to sleep due to a medical issue then you need address this. You need to look up acid reflux on the NHS website and/or speak to a pharmacist or your GP.