How do we become...morning people?

[YesitsBess]

My son (14) and I are not natural morning people, given the option we would both snooze merrily until 11am. Getting up for work/school is not fun for either of us (one grumpy night owl trying to wake another grumpy night owl* *rarely ends well).

We have to get up early most weekends as of now for rugby, which requires us being in the arse end of nowhere at stupid O' clock in the freezing cold. Can anyone share how they have made this even vaguely agreeable please?

Just to head off the worst:

1. I don't resent my son doing sport at all. Nor the early starts, I just would like advice on how to make it easier for us.

1. If you're about to talk about swimming, I know it's even more mad than rugby! Share your secrets...

1. Screen time is timetabled (he can have an absolute marathon on a Friday from 7 until 10 30pm when he doesn't need to be up early.)

@aspirationalflamingo genetics is, however if you have the mutation in the CRY1 gene (& many of us do), you are predisposed to sleeping late & waking late.

This rings true for me, I was a DJ until my mid 30s and my brain gets to 8.30 and still tells me it's time to get up and go.

If you allow the gaming until late on a Friday, it’s undoing the good work. Have a digital sunset 2 hours before sleep and stick to it - for you as well as DS. (You can watch tv but not be on phone/computer/gaming etc)

set your alarm for 20/30 minutes before you really need to get up to allow for slow lazy wake up / get ready. IME most people who say they’d happily sleep in until 10 don’t really mean they’d sleep until 10, but that’s when they’d naturally get out of bed. They’d probably sleep until 8:30/9am then doze/laze/snuggle until 10am, at which point they’d woken up slowly enough to be ready to face the day.

Sorry posted too soon! So most “not morning people” are actually people who need a bit of time between being asleep and being ready to get up and start the day. Morning people are often just people who wake up and then are ready to start the day.

it seems counterintuitive if you need to leave at 8:30am, rather than set your alarm for 8 or 7:30 if it takes you 30-60 minutes to get ready, to go for 7am, but you need waking up time added.

I'm a night owl, and despite years of being woken up early by small kids, dogs and getting up at the crack of stupid for work (some jobs have been a 6am start) I'm afraid to say it's all a fruitless endeavour. The moment I don't have to be up early, I'm back to night owl hours. It's just my natural clock. So I get up as late as possible without causing myself issues, and go to bed as late as I can get away with and still function normally.

Another baby would probably solve the issue yes.

Better/cheape than natural light alarm or no 🤔

I used to be up at around then with the chickens. I hated them (not really), their schedule and their ability to be energetic.

Can I aim the cool shower at the bed I wonder?

Vote 2 for the clock, and I agree but hope springs eternal!

Going to bed at the same time every day and getting up at the same time every day is a healthy habit. Just make sure you're giving yourself the best opportunity to get a minimum 7 hours sleep a night. No gaming for at least an hour before bed.

Yes, I am a proper Sgt Major when it comes to having a bag ready, but many coffees have been left cold trying to raise the lad.

I will look into this! Thankyou

Urgh. I hear you and you're probably right but... urgh!

Missed this, do you not get the 'brain says no' thing when you try to sleep early?

Yes. This response is like a warm hug!

I know, I know! Believe me, I never thought I’d be giving that advice even a few years ago. It just sort of happened. You can definitely change your body clock, I think consistency is key.

I am just like you, would naturally sleep 2am-11am but can’t because life’s not fair.

I have no magical secrets, prep or hacks- I just take a 5 min cold shower every morning. It jolts me awake and I can actually function. It’s changed my life.

This is a brilliant reply thankyou.

We don't have a garden but we do have a "Juliette balcony' so will attempt drinking coffee leaning over that.

And that’s it - if morning people are people who don’t enjoy a lie in or lazy “half sleep, half awake doze” then you can’t make yourself like that. All you can do is factor in that you are a long wake up person, not a fast wake up person.

on my work days, my alarm goes off at 6:05am. I need to leave the house at either 7:30am or 8am depending if I’m driving or walking. It takes me just over 45minutes to be ready for work and packed lunches done etc. I need the extra time to wake up. In winter that’s alarm snooze time, in summer, coffee in the garden time. I can’t go “switch off alarm, straight to shower, ready to face the day.”

I need time to come to terms with no longer being asleep. (And frankly I’ve learned to distrust those who don’t need transitional time, annoying bouncy fuckers, every one of them)

I can feel utterly sh*te in the morning. I shuffle downstairs to make a coffee, allow myself 10 mins sat in bed to drink it, then have a hot shower and turn it to icy cold in the last 2 minutes. It never fails to make me feel 100% better. I do this every day! I don't lie in at weekends, I tell myself I can always have an afternoon nap if need be.

Lovely response thankyou, that's pretty much where we're at. He just decides that "WE NEED TO LEAVE NOOOWWWWWW" means we might need to leave in 15 mins and I drive a Tardis 😄

I'm an early riser. Here's how my mornings go in case there's anything useful.

We don't sleep with curtains closed, always open in the summer. So as soon as the sky starts to change I just wake up and get up.

I like to walk the dogs by 5 at the weekend even in the winter, I wear a headtorch.

On a school day, I don't walk the dogs as they have a dog walker, instead I either do a power walk or a yoga workout or some weights in the garage.

I then shower and have coffee (decaf)

I make sure I have a lovely breakfast to look forward to - usually overnight oats which I make differently every day.

Even If I'm really tired I tell myself I can have a snooze after lunch/in the car when I reach my destination.

When I get up I'm straight into leggings and sports bra and too and jumper. If its by the bed it's easy.

I never lie in. Ever. The latest I slept this year is 7.30 when I was on holiday. And I was cross that i'd missed the sunrise!

I go to bed around 9pm. Last night I was exhausted from work and was asleep by 8pm, I then got up at 5this morning no problem.

I think PPs are right, it's an instinct genetic thing. I've been the same since I was a child. And I had a job at a newsagents before school when I was a teenager. I've just never struggled.

But ask me to stay up late for something and you will make me cry.

I’m the opposite, I’m much better in the mornings, can get going pretty much straight away, I’m most productive in the morning. But, I love an afternoon nap or an early night. Was never one for staying out much past 1am even in my 20s. Night shifts used to absolutely ruin me.

I think we’re all just programmed certain ways and have to get on with it as best we can.

Im also a rugby mum but most of our matches don’t start until 10.30 ish which is fine anyway.

I guess advice would be to get kit and bag sorted the night before.
Plenty of caffeine
Easy quick breakfast
Then straight out of the door.

This is interesting. Most of his friends play much later than he does, I don't want training to become a punitive thing that restricts his relaxing time. I feel like of he's giving massive amounts of his week over to training he needs to kick back a bit on the one night he can be up late for. What are your thoughts?

We have alarms set for about 50 mins before we need to get up. We are the "snooze" brigade.

The getting out of bed without procrastinating is relatively easy. Don't think. Alarm sounds, covers off, feet on the floor, stand up. Walk straight to next part of routine. Shower/clothes/teeth.

Don't think at all, it all has to be habit. And everything ready the night before so you don't have to think what to wear etc.

You can put on radio/audiobook etc but you can't read your phone until you've got yourself up and dressed.

Game from earlier? Allow him to game for half an hour before leaving if he gets up and is ready? Fit it into afternoon time?

bur give your mind time to unwind for bed, at least an hour.

This is very true of us! We can wake up early, but if we need to be out the door at 6am I need to be awake at 4.30 to do all my usual morning things?