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!?

Yes I do have a tip.

Get a really lovely fluffy cosy dressing gown. Leave it waiting so as soon as you get out of bed you put it on, and your instantly warm so less tempting to jump back into bed. Basically so you feel the same level of warmth and cosy as being under a duvet.

Second tip is to get a coffee machine and make breakfast a luxurious part of your day.

A colleague of mine told me she literally can’t get up early in the morning due to her antidepressant. (It’s recently she’s started to take it). So you might have to go with the flow for a while and just accept you aren’t a morning person for now.

I set my Google mini speaker which is in the kitchen to alarm 5 mins after my phone alarms upstairs. I can't switch the speaker off without going downstairs (or faffing with my phone) and I tend to go down to the kitchen to shout at it to stop! Once I'm downstairs and stood next to the kettle, switching it on and making a drink is automatic and then cats gave followed me down and want food. This all give me the momentum to wake me up enough and to stop me going back to bed.

I think you need your sleep. Getting up at 7 is early enough.
Can you do a home workout? 6.30am-7am?

I also read that we sleep in 90 minute cycles. So you either need 7.5 hours or 9 hours. Trying to get up after 8 hours is really hard when you are mid cycle

I use the Alarmy app and set it for a barcode in my kitchen or bathroom, gets me up and moving and at that point I’m like may as well stay up

Or a Teasmade - an alarm clock and a hot drinks maker in one! If you had a hot cuppa/coffee ready and waiting for you the moment you wake up, might that help to bring you around and get you out of bed?

I also WFH and I know I can’t function in the morning before I’ve had my cup of tea….alongside my dogs who want feeding and a morning toilet break, that Twining’s tea bag is the major motivator for getting me downstairs and cracking on with my day!

www.lakeland.co.uk/27913/swan-teasmade-bedside-hot-drinks-maker-white

I'm also likely ADHD, menopausal & on HRT. I set my alarm for 5.10 and just get straight up. EVERYTHING is ready the night before - my gym clothes, snack with coffee, all food for work. I leave by 5.30am to commute to work and and at a gym near work for 7am. There till approx 8.20, shower and get to work for 9am.

At first I struggled when the alarm went off, but now it's just what I do. It's become a habit. I NEVER miss a day or snooze my alarm. I feel so much better for the routine and the exercise.

This. I struggle with getting up on my WFH days but ultimately I have to get up to take my dogs out. (May be incompatible with a cat?)

@Tonissister I'm already on the lowest dose, below therapeutic level. I did try and come off them a few weeks back but then had a couple of nights that I woke up at 3am for ages...not sure if it was coincidence but I suppose I could try again!

@BertieBotts @Alaoh those alarms sound great - I'll take a look! No ensuite so would have to get up...

@Pinnacles I do intermittent fasting but don't eat breakfast, I've already put on over a stone with menopause so anything delicious is currently banned 😂

@KeeleyJ @MajesticWhine I don't think the cats would be too pleased!

@MyJollyMentor I go to bed at 9 but I read, meditate, etc. so it's more like 10pm when I go to sleep which would fit perfectly with the 7.5 hours (in theory....)

This. Book a class or a PT for a couple of months, then you'll be back in the habit.

And book something for the other end of the day so you can't faff all morning with the security of knowing you can just work late.

You’ve fallen into a habit, that’s all. I’m very similar although I have dozens of bad personal habits to kick!

So I do the 6am swim at the gym. I have to book it (even though I’m a member) and if I miss the swim they fine me £2.50 which although it’s not a lot drives me wild with annoyance. So when I commit the night before to getting up for a swim (4 days a week) I have a routine:

• I get my swim bag and clothes ready
• I set out a mug with coffee granules I and put a cup of water in the kettle. I am not going to move at all without a caffeine shot first thing!
• i book the swim.

Just that tiny sting of wasting £2.50 is enough to force me out of bed.

And now the habit is starting to embed - after six months - several times I haven’t booked but I get up anyway and do a half hour on my indoor bike or some yoga.

So for me it’s stick and carrot. You need a stick… something you’d feel bad about if you didn’t get up. Any chance you could find a gym buddy and commit to meet at a certain time?

You can, to a certain extent, program your brain to follow certain actions.

Take the example of walking into a room and forgetting what you came for. This happens because our brains treat rooms/locations like "folders" for information. If you are in the bedroom and decide to get the scissors from the kitchen, when you arrive in the kitchen, your brain is using the "kitchen" folder - whilst the information "I need the scissors" is in the "bedroom" folder.

To fix this, you just need to simply visualise getting the scissors out of the drawer in the kitchen before you leave the bedroom. I often use this method, and focus on the threshold ("when I walk into the house, take my purse out of the weird pocket I stuffed it in").

Apply this to your particular problem by either putting your alarm outside of the door, or by visualising being woken by your alarm and immediately getting dressed.

(Funnily enough I had this habit as a child, but only learned the brain function part as an adult.)

Yes, you have to just do it. There isn't a magic tip that will make you not get back into bed after getting up to turn your alarm off.

It's personal discipline. If you want to get up earlier you simply have to NOT get back into bed after turning off your alarm!

Equally if you want to get back into bed just accept it. Why is it a problem? It's not a moral failing. But if it's causing you issues then just effing get up and stay up!