How can I actually get out of bed earlier when WFH?

[ChampagneCharlotteLemonadeBudget]

Please help me get up in the morning!

My standard working pattern is supposed to be 7am until 5pm four days a week - it's always been flexible however in my most recent role I had a lot of very early meetings which were in person in the office so was getting up at 530 (20 minute drive but I wanted to make sure I had time for a coffee/skincare/meds/quick meditation as well)

I'm now permanently based at home - due to the flexible working I've not been getting up until 7-730 most days. I usually work past 5pm regardless due to the nature of the job so not like I'm not making the time up elsewhere. But I really want to get back into the 530 routine so that I can go to the gym first thing now instead of after work.

My sleep hygiene is really good, I go to bed at the same time every night after a warm bath/shower and hot drink, I meditate, don't have screens in the bedroom and read until I fall asleep. I do take an antidepressant which has a sedative effect but I honestly rarely feel tired or sleepy during the day (which I think is a miracle given I was plunged straight into menopause after a hysterectomy aged 39 last year!). I sleep so well, but my issue is I just cannot get out of bed!

I have a physical alarm clock which I moved across the room so I have to get up and turn it off... but then I just get back into bed and back to sleep! It's just too cosy and comfy....

Any suggestions to give me that additional kick up the backside!?

Just get up when your alarm goes off.

Personal discipline.

I feel your pain. I work from home and start at 6am. I just about force myself out at 5.45 but it KILLS me. Thank god for camera off meetings. The days I have to have the camera on I do a hack on my makeup and clothes, looking smartish from the neck up.

Can you book a class at the gym? You were able to get up before as you HAD to and now you choose not to. You need to give yourself something you HAVE to get up for.

A snuggly robe and slippers within reach to prevent getting back into bed might help.

• Put your gym clothes out next to the alarm clock and get dressed straight away.
• Tell yourself that you are only getting up straight away today but tomorrow you'll go back to bed, and then do that tomorrow too.
• Just do it without thinking about it because it has to be done.

I find it hard to get out of bed if it is dark and cold and it is much easier in the summer. Could you set the heating to come on for half an hour so your room is warm?

I tell myself that it’s only the first 30 seconds of pain. Once I’m up I actually don’t want to go back to bed, so what I try to do is not think about what I’m doing but almost go into auto mode. So to go for an early run I have clothes laid out, Chuck them on, put trainers on and go outside. Sometimes it’s not till I’m running I aware of what I’m doing.

Not sure that makes sense, I hate getting up also so really have to plan it and force myself.

Get a cat. Mine likes to wake me at 4.30 every morning.

I have two! They're as lazy as I am! I lost my old girl two years ago and she would demand food as soon as it was light, but these two just snooze until they feel like wandering downstairs...

@MissCooCooMcgoo it's tips to improve my personal discipline I'm looking for 😂

Sleep in your gym kit.

Get a sunrise clock. Makes a huge difference to waking up more naturally which in turn makes it less traumatic to get up.

Mine encourage me to stay in bed! They often sleep on my bed and look so cozy and warm that I just want to stay with them. I usually get up and get a coffee then take it back to bed for an hour (also wfh) and one of them will usually come and snuggle on my lap at that point, which then makes it even harder!

Sorry, I'm no help OP. In no way could I force myself up for the gym!

No idea. I am bone idle - I open up my laptop from my bed and don’t actually get up for another hour or 2. This is a perk of wfh to me.

If I go to the gym, it’s never before lunchtime.

Ideally I'd like to go at lunchtime but TPTB for some reason always schedule meetings over the lunchtime period - so annoying. Unfortunately I have an 8am meeting every morning that I have to put my camera on for, even with a blurred background I'm not sure I could get away with being in bed!

I actually wish in some areas I could be MORE lazy, I never switch off and relax at all other than when on holiday - ASD and ADHD don't help much either!

This! Get up and don’t get back into bed OP

So....you're ND and you have ten hour work days, sometimes longer? (albeit 4 days a week)

It's probably because you're bloody exhausted, that's why!

Do you have DC?

Ok, as you'd rather go at lunchtime can't you block your diary out for that time, so it shows you're not available for meetings?

If not & you need to go early, I've had success with 'self talk' saying 'I feel better when I get up at 6. I feel happier if I get outside'

I'm enjoying the lighter, less grey & wet days already. I'm a spring/summer morning person. The self talk has to be very firm in the Winter & the back chat can be full on! 🤣

@crackofdoom I work 9.375 hour days when you take off a lunch break, but I only work Monday to Thursday so still do full-time equivalent of 37.5 hours a week - originally this was set up as part of reasonable adjustments so that I could have an additional day away from the office to de-compress, but now most of the team do the same and obviously we are WFH anyway. I'm genuinely not exhausted or even particularly tired as I sleep really well, just lack motivation to get up and at em!

@ILoveDaffodills I think I have reverse SAD - absolutely hate the summer! Oh and I wouldn't get away with blocking the time out unfortunately, I'm expected to be available during the full working day

But do you even get a lunch break? You said upthread that meetings often get scheduled over lunchtime.

Yes, I second this.
my sunrise alarm clock has really helped me in the mornings. And I am shite in the mornings! 🌅

I think sometimes you do just need to listen to you body. People with ADHD are more exhausted in general and need more rest. So getting up at 5.30 and hitting the gym although sounds healthy, might not be the best idea.

We also have delayed sleep cycles due to delayed melatonin production so hard to get to sleep early enough to get up at 5.30.

Is there a compromise where you could get up a little later say 6/6.30 and still fit in some exercise. Or could you exercise at lunchtime?

Getting up at 5.30 in the dark would be too stressful for my nervous system.

Sorry - just seen you can’t take a lunch break. I’d do it gradually then so less of a shock to the system. So start at 6.30am for one week and work backwards.

But only you can find the motivation to get out of bed at that time. You may just not be a morning person and it’s too hard to fight it.

Not the question that you asked, but I have now determined that I will no longer force myself to get up in the morning to exercise if it's that difficult, but I'll embrace fitting it in at another time of day. I'd also suggest that your compressed hours pattern is only working for you, because you are not rushing out in the morning and that might also be why you are struggling with going after work?

I'd definitely experiment with different gym time and/or work hours - for example, I really struggle with going to the gym straight after work but find the sweet spot is around 7/7.30pm which gives me time to relax after work, time to exercise and time to wind down before bed. What works for you will be personal to you.

I go to bed at 9pm so getting up early should be fairly easy!

@crackofdoom I don't get a lunch break per se, but there are plenty of times where I've taken time back to e.g. go and get my hair done, etc. I suppose I should use this time to go to the gym instead but that would feel strange going in the middle of the afternoon then coming back, showering, changing, and back into meetings... I'd need a good couple of hours for the gym though and gaps that big in any day are hard to find

@redskyAtNigh I can't really change my working hours, I couldn't go back to doing 5 days and I've recently taken a second job on which starts sometimes straight after I finish this one

Do a team sport you have to turn up for rather than going to the gym? Like rowing?

Or just accept that getting up at 530 is too miserable to build into your routine unless you’d starve otherwise.

I discovered that a sneeze would wake me up properly. So I got some snuff for just this situation. You can buy different flavours.