To ask for tips to get up earlier in the morning?

[BeccaG123]

I find that I ignore my alarm and fall back asleep, then spend the rest of the day feeling annoyed with myself for waking up late.
Any tips? What time do you get up at?

Also try Ebay for Lumie clocks - plenty on there much cheaper than £170 to buy and see if it works for you without that kind of expenditure

Why do you have to get up early? If you don't have a schedule reason to get up early then I'd work on changing mindset. Everyone has 24h in a day and they can be used however you want.

I have a new Lumie clock from Amazon which was about £30. It does help if you are not a morning person.

We also have a radio alarm and if there’s an interesting discussion I will start waking up slowly to that.

No matter how early I have to be up I absolutely have to have some time in bed waking up first. With tea.

We also have a radio alarm and if there’s an interesting discussion I will start waking up slowly to that.

I’ve not had my radio alarm on R4 since 2016 when it woke me announcing that Britain had voted to leave the EU, and then later in the year that Trump had been elected President. No way could I cope with this when half-awake (my brain kept doing the equivalent of “does not compute”). Not the way you want to start the day, so I’ve stuck to music since.

I followed this thread last night amd used pp's tip of the 'alarmy app'
It worked a treat

Read the Circadian Code which is about the importance of sleep and good routines.

Lumie sunrise alarm clock - amazing. I’m woken by the light before the sound and it means I’m not waking in complete darkness. Helps you with getting to sleep too with a gradual fade out.

A very bright light on a timer

turn the bedroom heat down a bit

get into an "early to bed, early to rise" routine to reset your body clock

leave the curtains open in summer and the sun will wake you and set your clock. The bright light will do it in winter or cloudy days.

no TV, tablet or phone in the bedroom.

Some people say drink a pint of water at bedtime.

I hate getting up in the dark.

@FusionChefGeoff Do you find it a faff taking up milk/teabags each night? I love the idea of a teas made as I have to walk down 2 flights of stairs and disturb the dog to make a cuppa first thing... I might just try a cheap kettle in my room first though!

I used to put a mug with milk in it, in the freezer, so it would be thawed but fresh in the morning.

Eventually all my mugs cracked.

You could probably do it in an ice-cube tray, though.

You can buy those little restaurant tubs of longlife cream, but the shelf life is surprisingly short.

@WombatStewForTea
Do you have a link for me to buy one? It would be perfect for dh who clicks snooze 10 times in his sleep.

I have my bedside clock set an hour ahead. It's silly how much easier it is to get up with the clock saying 8:30 even though I know it's only 7:30.

@fruitpastille I have a box of tea bags in my bedside drawer and then use DD tiny Peppa Pig milk jug! I also keep an eye out in cafes / hotels for mini UHT potions and chuck them in the drawer if I've managed to grab an handful.

Try an app that wakes you up in the lightest part of your sleep cycle?

Sorry @Witchend I used an app on my phone rather than a physical alarm!

Thanks all - I have downloaded Alarmy and will give it a go tomorrow morning!

Get a 2 yr old.

I find the waking up part hard- it takes 30 minutes for your body to be ready to be awake.
I therefore set my alarm for 30 minutes before i have to wake (6.15am). go downstairs, use the bathroom, make myself a tea and go back to bed with my tea and read for 20 minutes.

I find I'm ready to face the day then.
I do the same with DD. I wake her 30 minutes before she needs to be up to give her brain chance to wake. by 7.30 we are both happliy awake to get dressed (I've already showered) and have breakfast. We leave the house at 8am for work/school.

I always have uniform ready the night before, pack lunches ready to grab out of the fridge and any club equipment in a bag by the front door.

Also no TV/Tablet/Screen in the morning

Lumie sunrise alarm

I get up at 5am.
Go to bed earlier.

If you are struggling to wake it means you have not had enough sleep.

On a free weekend, note what time you go to bed, don't set an alarm and find out what time you wake up naturally. This will give you an idea how many hours sleep you need. Most people go to bed simply too late to get up comfortably in time for a 9-5 job with commute or school run. The resulting tiredness then makes it even harder to wake the following day etc

Then you need to gradually shift your body clock until you are going to sleep at the right time to wake earlier, naturally.

1. No screens for a hour or 2 before the time you need to go to bed.
2. No caffeine after lunch.
3. Eat your evening meal earlier.

In the morning, ensure you are exposed to bright light (natural light in summer where possible) within a few minutes of waking.

Lumie clocks are also very good for helping with this but you will feel best if you actually enable yourself to get enough sleep.

I agree wit hthe past coupld of posts.

No one will find it easy to get up at 6am if you go to bed at midnight.

Rhythms can be reset -I'm not sure I agree with the night owl/lark thing.

Most people need 7/8 hours sleep a night.
If you stay up late you will be tired in the morning.

TomatoSoupWithCheeseOnTop's "lark" friend has a good point about mindset.
When my cousin worked as a bus driver, he always volunteered for the "stupid o'clock" early shifts which everyone else hated. His thinking was that he would feel like c**p whatever time of day he had to leave his comfy bed, so might as well get it over with and have the best of the day to himself.
I also agree with PP's who recommend a second alarm clock out of reach; when I had to rise early, I knew that I had five minutes to get across the room after the "polite" alarm had roused me, as the second one, just outside the bedroom on the top landing, was hideous. My (very pleasant) next door neighbour let me know, nicely, that it could be heard next door, and I wish to remain on good terms....
Not the best for everybody, but my current solution is two furry boys, who know that the alarm clock is my cue to totter downstairs and dole out the cat food, and will pat my face if I don't stir.

You don’t need a lumie, or even smart lights/bulbs. A good old fashioned timer for a few quid will do the job of turning a light on just as well. Mine turns on 30 mins before my alarm goes off.

Put a tenner in the oven and set the timer for when you need to get up.

and/or

Use a timer plug for your hoover

and/or

Alarm clock on landing as suggested above which works for me.

I used to pay BT a flat rate for unlimited alarm calls and set one every weeknight.