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Original poster

I'm not a morning person...how do I get myself energised and AWAKE?

39 replies

wheresmymojo · 28/02/2023 08:01

I'm not a morning person. At all. But I really want to take less time 'waking up' in the morning.

Currently my alarm goes off around 6.15am and I manage to get out of bed at 8am ish.

I'd like to get out of bed around 7am to get things done before I start work. Also, it seems insane that nearly two hours after waking I'm lying here feeling like I could go back to sleep.

So far this is my routine...

Alarm at 6-6.15am. Light goes on automatically at 6.15am.

6.15-6.30am DH brings me cereal, coffee and my meds in bed. He opens the blinds to let natural light in.

As I have ADHD my meds include 40mg of stimulants(!)

7am Still feeling too tired to move, DH brings me another coffee

8am (now) I'm just about feeling like I can get up but still knackered and want to sleep.

I'll get a shower with some Radox orange smelling shower gel - was hoping it would be 'energising' but it's not very zingy.

Given I'm already on caffeine, stimulants and don't have a sleep problem or any DC to keep me awake at night I think it's probably a mix of my ADHD and psychological that I STILL feel like I want to curl up and sleep for three more hours.

What do you do to get yourself energised for the day ahead?

Other than 'make yourself get up immediately' (this is the one thing I refuse to do) what do you do to get yourself from 'sleepy' to 'ready for the day'?

Please help!

OP posts:

Margo34 · 28/02/2023 08:02

Go to bed earlier?

NoSquirrels · 28/02/2023 08:04

Other than 'make yourself get up immediately' (this is the one thing I refuse to do)

Alas - because for me my happy place is a cup of tea in bed in the morning - this is the only thing that actually works. Sorry.

bamboonights · 28/02/2023 08:06

I have allergic rhinitis - and feel like I could sleep for ever too with the pressure in my head that it brings. I have a dog and I MUST get up to let her out around 7.30. Without that I'd sleep morning. Going back to bed with a cup of tea doesn't help. Once in the shower I'm fine.

Karatema · 28/02/2023 08:14

I'm not a morning person either! I allow myself half hour max to come round and then get out of bed.
However, I don't put the alarm on earlier than need be. How crazy to put the alarm on for 6.15 if you have no intention of getting out of bed until 8! Sounds bonkers to me!

PurpleParrotfish · 28/02/2023 08:16

Could you get up for breakfast? If your DH is kind enough to get it for you then all you have to do is stagger to the kitchen or wherever, sit and eat cereal and drink coffee.
Would more sleep help? If you’re waking up at 6.15 and not getting up until 8 there’s potentially an extra hour of sleep you could get. Suppose you started setting your alarm for 7, take your meds, have 25 min in bed on MN or whatever. then get up for breakfast, 20 min eating / drinking coffee / MN. Then off for a shower at 7.55. And once you’d got used to that routine you could start bringing it forward (and maybe your bedtime too) by 5 min at a time.

DanseAvecLesLoup · 28/02/2023 08:16

Stop having breakfast in bed!

stbrandonsboat · 28/02/2023 08:20

I have ADHD too (not medicated) and the only thing that works is getting up immediately and going outside for two minutes to get some fresh air. Even standing by an open window helps. Hitting snooze constantly just confuses your brain and gives it permission to go back to sleep. Going to sleep earlier is important as well.

I'd advise not setting your alarm so early because you have no intention of getting up at 06:15. Set it for 07:30 instead and get straight up. The poor quality 'snooze sleep' is what's causing the problem.

AtLeastThreeDrinks · 28/02/2023 08:21

Set your alarm later? Do you actually need that long to wake up or is the problem that you’re getting woken too early and therefore feel groggy for hours? How much sleep are you getting from bedtime to 6.15am?

WeWereInParis · 28/02/2023 08:25

It sounds like you could get an extra 90 mins sleep if you set your alarm for 7:45 and had breakfast then?

LizzieSiddal · 28/02/2023 08:26

I’m similar. 😞

Apart from when I had Dc and had to be up to get them sorted and drive them to school, I’ve always been like this. I just lie under the duvet thinking about nothing in particular.
Im lucky that i can be flexible with work so I rarely start before 11.

If I were you I’d set my alarm for 7.30 so you are getting more sleep and have a little lie in.

Nsky62 · 28/02/2023 08:27

You are very lucky having another half to do stuff, I used to do shifts and sometimes had to be up at 4.20am, coffee and banana on train.
These days being retired I don’t, set my alarm for 7, then get coffee, toast and meds.
i take the day as it comes and get up when I need to

MichaelAndEagle · 28/02/2023 08:28

I have downloaded the app Alarmy.
You have to do a challenge (can choose physical or mental) before you can switch the alarm off.
My challenge is I have to get up and take a photo of the kettle.
Once I'm up, I'm OK. But given the opportunity, despite my best intentions, I will keep hitting snooze until the last minute.
I now get up with enough time for a quiet cup of tea before I need to wake the household and get on with the morning jobs.

ChinoiserieNerd · 28/02/2023 08:29

I'm also not a morning person and have ADHD, so I sympathise.

You really need to get out of bed when your alarm goes off. Hit the snooze button once tops if you must, but you will never wake up properly in bed, no matter how much coffee and stimulants you have. Get up and straight into the shower, have (more) coffee afterwards.

Go to bed at a reasonable time. No screens / being on your phone in bed. Read a book instead.

And now the one thing that makes the biggest difference to me, by a mile: no carbs in the evening! I need so much less sleep when I eat low-carb or skip dinner altogether (intermittent fasting), it's absolutely insane. Annoying because dinner is my absolute favourite meal, but it makes such a huge difference.

MeganLogan · 28/02/2023 08:30

Does it matter? You’re covering breakfast, meds, your ND…if getting up at 8am is your idea of failing I think you’re doing great.

I’ve just come to learn I don’t do mornings. Getting up at 10 doesn’t mean my whole day is lost.

LozzaChops101 · 28/02/2023 08:32

ADHD = crap sleep quality for you?

Have your cup of coffee in the back garden/front step/hanging out of the window rather than in bed, and honk on some fresh air. If I don’t get up and out straight away then I’m awake but not functioning in bed from 5am and still really late to leave for work at 7.30 😒 I’ve given myself a job I have to do (feeding the flippin birds 😫) so I feel I have to get up or I’m letting someone/something down!

Everyone I know on ADHD meds struggles in the morning, it’s a common battle I think.

AmandaClare · 28/02/2023 08:32

Other than 'make yourself get up immediately' (this is the one thing I refuse to do)

Sadly this is the one thing that is likely to work. At the moment you’re setting your alarm way before you actually want to get up, so you’re losing sleep, and creating a long period of being half awake/half asleep. You need to retrain yourself to see bed as a place for sleeping. Stop having breakfast in bed.

I realise you don’t like getting up but there’s no magic button that’s going to make it easier. You just need to do it and stop lolling about.

ChinoiserieNerd · 28/02/2023 08:33

MichaelAndEagle · 28/02/2023 08:28

Also second this. I hate Alarmy with a passion and don't always use it, but it does work. I have to take a picture of my contact lense solution to stop the alarm and it's much easier to make yourself get in the shower straight away when you're already in the bathroom.

Legoninjago1 · 28/02/2023 08:33

I get up about that time too. For me it only works to be in bed with light off by 10PM latest. In the morning get straight out of bed and open the curtains. Lounging around in bed after you wake up will just make you lethargic.

Adhdsucks · 28/02/2023 08:36

Another with ADHD here who simply cannot get out of bed. I could just sleep and sleep and sleep.

What time do you go to bed? I have found that consistently going to bed a bit earlier (10pm for me) does make it a tiny bit easier but it is hard.

DanseAvecLesLoup · 28/02/2023 08:46

LozzaChops101 · 28/02/2023 08:32

ADHD = crap sleep quality for you?

Everyone I know on ADHD meds struggles in the morning, it’s a common battle I think.

Have a thumbs up for using the expression 'honk on some fresh air.'

housemaus · 28/02/2023 08:51

I feel your pain! I find mornings a struggle too - sounds like you have a routine, which is good, but the routine isn't actually working with your brain, because ADHD brains aren't good at transitioning between 'things' - e.g. bed and being up, in this case.

Instead of your DH bringing you breakfast, having it set out waiting for you downstairs - you have to move then. Get your natural light in the garden/by the kitchen window as your tea or coffee brews, and do a few small things in the kitchen to get some free-completing-tasks-dopamine as you wait. I'd then take meds then go for a little 10 minute walk and then come back and have your shower.

This is what I've found works for me now - if I lean into the 'can't wake up' feeling I get 'stuck' and then I never feel like I can get out of first gear all day.

If I stick my phone on the other side of the room so I have to get up and get my alarm, then I go downstairs to get breakfast (something with protein in, good for stimulant meds!), stick coffee on to brew, and do 2-3 things I can spot in the kitchen cos the feeling of achieving something is v good dopamine for the start of the day (usually unload dishwasher, stick a wash on, sweep the floor, take the binbag out, whatever). Then I take my meds and drink a whole glass of water. Then I throw trainers and joggers on and go for a 15 minute walk round the block with my coffee, try and get a bit of vitamin D and get my heart rate up, come back, shower, skincare, ready to go.

I hate that this is the only thing that works, but it is!

JorisBonson · 28/02/2023 08:56

I had to adjust to getting up at 5am in the past few years. Unfortunately the only thing that worked for me was minimal snoozing and getting straight out of bed! I allow myself one 5 minute snooze and then have 2 alarm clocks go off (phone and tablet) for the time I need to get up.

I prep all my food and work bag the night before and lay out my clothes for the day.

Definitely agree with PP to get up for breakfast / coffee / meds, breakfast in bed is an occasional weekend treat now.

Cornelious2011 · 28/02/2023 09:01

I don't understand why you set your alarm for 6.15. Set it for 7am then you get extra sleep time.

PurpleParrotfish · 28/02/2023 09:04

It’s about the transitions, isn’t it? For me, getting straight out of bed and into the shower would be my idea of hell, but I have stages that get me one step at a time towards functioning human being. The difference may be that I don’t have ADHD so can manage the transition between them relatively easily: 10 min snooze so I’m not in super deep sleep, 5-10 min Candy Crush so I don’t fall back to sleep, 5-10 min MN or ebook once my eyes can focus on text, get up, large mug of strong tea and toast. And then I’m human and can cope with more challenging things like having a shower.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr · 28/02/2023 09:11

Not sure if it’s going to solve your problem completely but I noticed there’s no mention of you drinking any water during your morning routine. Being well hydrated has a positive impact on your mood and energy levels. It’s a simple fix that may hopefully be of some help to you, try having 1 pint within 30 mins of waking and then keep drinking plenty throughout the day.

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