To take an hour or more to get going in a morning

[Mitzimaybe]

I'm a night owl, not a lark. I'm better some days than others but, most days, when I first get up I kind of stagger around like a zombie for a while. It takes me quite a while (and usually some caffeine) to turn into a human. Consequently I always allow at least an hour between when I get up and when I have to leave the house, usually more.

My husband, on the other hand, takes about 15 minutes from getting up to leaving the house. To be fair, he has his shower before bed and I prefer to shower in a morning, also I see to the cats which he doesn't have to do, so obviously that takes me longer.

My boss at work has told me it's not normal to take more than 5-10 minutes to become fully functional in a morning and that I should talk to my doctor about it. I think that's ridiculous. AIBU or is he?

I can get up and out of the house in 15 minutes if I absolutely have to (oversleeping, for example) but I feel crappy all day. Or I can get up an hour before I need to leave, which gives me to time to get myself sorted - plus all the household chores that need doing first thing - and feel ready to face the world

Meh

It's just how I am, and I'm very unlikely to change that now!

i can very easily stay up late, and from having a baby who is a terrible sleeper, can survive and function on surprisingly little sleep when i have to. But ideally i would have between 8 and 9 hours sleep a night. when i do this i can wake up at 6am pretty easily. i definitely take an hour to get up, showered, dressed etc.

One thing i've noticed is that when i do more exercise and am feeling fit, i can handle less sleep much more easily and wake up feeling good. Do you exercise much? Maybe that would help.

wow I could literally have written your first two paragraphs...!

Is no-one sitting down to breakfast anymore?

Yep def need at least an hour!

Nothing weird about it.
I leave the house at 8.30am
My radio comes on at 5.45am and my alarm goes off at 6am.

My kids are able to get themselves fed and dressed so I don't need to rush around after them, I just like to get myself together in my own time.

I am capable of getting ready very quickly but I don't want to. I hate being rushed out to work in the morning. I feel off all day if I do that.

It’s the way I run my life and I do just fine. Nothing wrong with me.

Actually I take even longer because I want to. I get up about 6.40 - drink two coffees, cuddle Doggalicious and feed her. Take a long bath at 8 and then start work about 9.15.

DH needs longer in the morning to get ready than I do.

I roll out of bed, into clothes and out the door pretty much. I shower the evening before though so very little required of me in the mornings.

Our alarm goes of at 7.25am and we're out of the door by 7.50 to be in work for 8am. DH would prefer we had longer to get ready, but won't get up any earlier or go to bed any earlier than 11.30pm so his problem rather than mine!

Sounds completely normal for a night person. If you're getting to work on time it's none of your boss's business and certainly not a health concern.

My boss at work has told me it's not normal to take more than 5-10 minutes to become fully functional in a morning and that I should talk to my doctor about it.

^^

get a new boss.

I would say its normal, but then I'm not normal so who knows? I get up at 5am and have first coffee. I then, still not full functioning do mindless things - load of laundry, do the dishes from night before, take care of the pets (feeding, sending outside so they can do their thing) pick up the garden after animals do their thing, come in and have second cup of coffee. Then I catch up on the news, start breakfast for the family and while they eat I get in the shower and dressed now fully caffeinated and functioning to do the school run at 8 and off to work.

I can be up and out in 15 mins. DH can too but will Normally be up at 5:30 to leave at 7:00 as he deals with all the household chores.

Lots of replies - thanks all for your comments!

I normally get 7-8 hours sleep a night. Yes I am worse in a morning if I'm short of sleep but even when I'm well rested I never bounce out of bed like Tigger.

I am a morning person (in that I'm awake and with it as soon as I wake up - also a very light sleeper), but I still need time to get going in the morning. Rushing makes me feel jittery and anxious. I generally get up at half 6, feed the cats, then sit on the sofa with a cup of tea for 20 minutes while I wake up properly. Then (wait for partner to finish faffing) shower, get dressed, breakfast, make up, out by 8am.

No there's nothing creepy about my boss, just he would like me to come in earlier than I do, and I was trying to explain why I am better with a later start time.

I used to have a job where I had to start early and colleagues learned that if they wanted to tax my brains first thing in a morning they had better ply me with coffee and give me time to absorb it first. I was physically present but not fully functioning.

DP likes an hour in the morning - empty the dishwasher, do a poo have a shower etc and not rush before work.

I have ME, it takes me about an hour and a half to go from bed to fed/clean/dressed/some degree of functioning, and then I need to sit down to recover from all that activity! Before though I used to be like DP in wanting to take my time getting ready before work. Rushing around didn't set up in the right frame of mind for the day ahead.

Your boss is weird.

And i did used to be annoyingly Tiggerific in the morning - still didn't want to rush!

I shower at night and in the morning I’m usually up, out the door and on the train to work in half an hour.

It sounds a bit dramatic to me that you could be at work early but in need of loads of coffee and extra time to process information, but I suppose we’re just wired very differently.

Your boss is an idiot. unless you're being late for work

Those who know me, know it's worth worth asking me anything until I've had a 2nd cup of tea. With me it's a case of 'I'm vertical, what more do you want?'
I find it very annoying that the 'larks' of this world feel free to criticise my slow start in the morning. I don't go around criticising them for being unable to stay awake past 10pm or even earlier.

The cat sorting falls to me because that was the agreement between us before we got the cats. He does other stuff, I don't do all the wifework.

I could go to bed at 8pm and still feel groggy getting up at 9am.

We are all wired differently - some work best in the morning, others in the evenings.

What time does your boss want you to come into work?

If I'm on holiday, I'm a lark- up, out and off at the crack of dawn (looking forward to my afternoon nap).

At home, the thought of starting the day properly (clear up kitchen from breakfast, put wash on, Hoover around after Kids and dog, make packed lunches etc etc) means I sit in bed for at least half an hour nursing a cup of tea. Much better at the end of the day / nighttime. Mornings suck.

I'm the same. I get up and sit and do nothing for 15 mins with a cup of tea and I enjoy that start to the day. Then another 45 mins to get ready, makeup, shower, breakfast and make my lunch for work
I hate rushing and I hate being late even more than I dislike mornings!

I need at least 20 minutes to drink a cup of tea before I'm actually awake. On a bad day it can take an hour of tea drinking + getting ready time.