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.)

Never lie in. Get up early 7 days a week.

Drink water as soon as you get up.

Open your back door and go outside for a few minutes when you get downstairs Breathe deeply.

Come back in. Brush your teeth.

Take a fairly cool shower (or switch from warm to fairly cool for the final rinse). Give yourself time for a nice long shower.

Never talk to anyone until you've had a nice big mug of coffee or tea.

I hate the morning. If it was up to me I'd go yo bed at 2 and get up at 10. Sadly can't do that so go to bed at 11 or 12 and up at 6.45. Or 8.30 to 9ish on weekends but I've stayed up. I would refuse anything that meant leaving before 7.30am and do dislike that.

Your post has spoken to me in a way I feel slightly observed by! Yes, we can in fact get up at any time, it's just 5am starts represent an awake/getting up time that I don't like!

I'm not a morning person and my lumie alarm clock doesn't change that or make it remotely better. The only thing I've found that works is forcing myself to get up when the alarm goes off and not hitting snooze, I've moved the clock so I can't reach it without getting out of bed. It probably doesn't help that I have to start work at 5am so my alarm is going off at 03:45 either 😩

@Wallywobbles - that’s a real morning person mentality! You can go from being asleep to getting up and starting getting reading in seconds! That’s not something the non-morning types can easily do. It takes time to wake up. I could force myself out of bed immediately when my alarm goes off, but then I’ll be stood in the shower not washing my hair because I need to wake up a bit first, or sat on the loo having “finished” but not ready to stand up again yet. Or had shower and sat on my bed in my towel staring at open wardrobe knowing exactly what I planned to wear today but not being quite ready to stand up and take that dress and put it on yet…

budgeting for “wake up time” is the kindest thing a night person can do for themselves.

I am giving you a weak high five. I have ti be in bed in about 18 minutes to function tomorrow.

I feel ya though.

I'm similar in needing to be up early but in general my preference is 8am waking.
I need to eg get to bed around 22:30 -00:00
Sometimes I do usually other times it's a mix and I feel zz during the day.

When it comes to waking DS - open hisndoor, tell him it's time to get up, and leave him to it.

There are natural consequences to not leaving in time for your practice or your match.

Don't mollycoddle him. It's a rod for your own back.

The sheer number of cold shower recommendations on this thread is giving me hives. I don't even like warm showers at 5am! 😭

The only thing that makes my mornings bearable is DH and DC having their 20 minute morning poos together (one on toilet, one on potty, each with a screen) that allows me to make coffee and go back to bed for 15 mins. Otherwise murder would be done.

I set the alarm even earlier than I need to acclimatise. I like to have an unhurried breakfast and wake properly.

But you need to get to bed very early (lots of good tips here to help with that) have everything ready.

I know this is counter intuitive but push your coffee back slowly so eventually you're having it 90 mins after you wake up. Have water/warm water/ decaf when you first wake up. You will wake up feeling fresher after a few days. I heard this on some podcast and gave it a go and it really helped me in the mornings.

I go this to help with early morning weekend exercise classes.

This is such a useful timeline! I think ot perfectly illustrates for me the visceral differences between natural early risers and....Well...me!

The only time I was ever up before 5 which included a sleep was when we had roosters. Prior to that, 5am would have been a reasonable bedtime.

I've trained in the gym for years. Never before 10am.

I've never ingested anything more than coffee before 12pm (my kids have overnight oats every morning)

I've never had the lunch snooze option because I work full time "normal" hours 9-5

If I went to bed at 9pm my brain would make an absolute point of playing the Muppet Show theme tune for 4 hours!

Lumie clock. Wake up gently. Add a radio alarm to go off 15 mins after the Lumie starts.
Magnesium tablets an hour before bed.
Include exercise and time outdoors in your daily routine.
Never let early birds tell you they are the superior species.

Balcony will work great! It's to do with the light and its much better if it doesn't come through a window.

Other posters are right, in that cold showers do work (but I can't face it) and that its very easy to undo the good work, I will revert back to my 3-11 routine at any opportunity and then have to readjust, which is actually awful.

Don't expect to love it by the way. I still am a night owl, I'm not joyous, just functional, regularly stand drinking my coffee as sun rises wishing all the chirping birds would fuck off!

That's it I think, there's definitely two groups!

I used to work until 4am, kids at school for 8.30, nap, be a parent until 8pm and then off again.

I envy your 10.30 starts, we have to go all over the shop for 9am preps. I love a home game, its 15 mins, lob him out the car with a gumshield and jobs a good un!

Im an absolute night owl, but for work reasons have had to be up early over this last year when normally I work at night.
I go to bed early and wake up early every day, even on days off, your body eventually gets used to the early sleep. I use the alarmy app and have it so it only shuts off if I scan a Barcode from something in the bathroom, so I have to get up and moving, then straight into the shower and then caffeine!

Once your hit perimenopause you'll be awake at 6am everyday...

This is practical, no-nonsense and I am annoyed 😄

I do employ the "one foot in front of the other" technique but yours is more specific. I'm trying this on Sunday.

So, can't help with getting up thing, as I struggle with that too!
But I will second that you need a really good coat and wellies / boots with fluffy socks for standing on the sidelines when they play in freezing (literally) conditions, or worse if it's raining and mud city. Hope you aren't precious with the car interior!

I set my alarm an hour before I have to get up and neck my Ritalin.

It's usually kicked in by the time my next alarm goes off and I happily get up.

I appreciate this only works for people with ADHD or access to street amphetamines but you asked for my secret and this is it.

Read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. A game changer.

EVERYONE NEEDS TO FUCK OFF WITH THE COLD SHOWERS 😂

I hear you and I understand that this is the general consensus, I just fucking hate every one of you freezing cold early-rising bastards. I hope you understand its just a reaction to the group advice rather than me hating you all as individuals. I hate you all.

Also another favourite of mine is to set my alarm an hour and fifteen minutes before I have to get up. Shower, then go back to bed with a towel on my hair until the real alarm goes off.

Then I'm not met with the dread of having to face the shower and dry my hair when I wake up.

I am really odd, though.