To find it impossible to wake up? HELP!

[teethingproblems]

Right, I'm a teacher which means I have to leave by about 07:30. For the last year I've been getting up (no exaggeration) about 8 minutes before I have to leave. My mornings are so rushed and it means I go into work feeling like a mess.

I set alarms for 06:30 but then always end up snoozing them or setting later ones.

Ive tried the trick of leaving your phone on the other side of the room - I simply get it, snooze the alarm and get back into bed.

Ive tried everything, I physically don't get up until I'm cutting it so fine that I may be late to lesson 1. IT is awful!

I would love an alarm clock that would gradually wake me up and perhaps gently play the radio or something, so I give myself 45 minutes to have breakfast, a shower etc. Any recommendations?

I get this.
I honestly don't think my brain works properly when it's just been woken up - it's an almost primeval thing that the need to carry on sleeping overrides rational thought.
Following alarm recommendations with interest.
I second keeping a cosy dressing gown close to hand. I also have a teasmade as I can groggily make a cuppa and drink it in bed. Then I'm a bit more in awake/eational mode.

How is your sleep, OP? If you were to sleep until you naturally wake up, do you feel refreshed and like you've had enough sleep or are you still groggy and slow to wake? Issues such as sleep apnoea, night terrors, sleep paralysis, stress, anxiety, depression, etc can all affect your quality of sleep and make it harder to wake up.

I'm hypermobile so struggle with waking up as just existing can be fairly tiring, I'm also not in the slightest a morning person. I've found that the only thing that helps me is to be strict about going to bed by 11 so I can wake at 7 and making a deal with myself that I can sleep late at the weekend.

What time do you go to bed?

Its not a case of not understanding how hard it is. Its that you just have to be strict with yourself. Several alarm clocks in different parts of the room maybe?
Is your sleep pattern screwed? Could you try and get more sleep by practising going to bed earlier? Take melatonin or sominex for a few nights at 9pm and try and be in bed for 10

Maybe go to be earlier. I usually leave at about 7.30 too when working, but when not working can easily sleep till 11am!!! I am just more disciplined in the week. I also hate being late (not actually late) but feeling stressed with no time before work starts. Kids in at 8am

I have the Alarmy app on my phone, it has various options such as maths problems to solve, a QR code you have to scan, before it will let you snooze the alarm. I sometimes have two different maths alarms at set times followed by a QR code to do which is an item in the bathroom.

It is hard, I get it, people saying 'just get up' dont seem to realise you can still be half asleep when you get up to turn the alarm off and go back to bed. This way works for me because I have to use my brain to solve the maths problems which wakes me up

@teethingproblems

People saying "dude just get up" clearly don't understand what it's like and don't struggle I wouldn't be posting asking for alarm advice if I could just "get up"! X

But you obviously CAN get up if you manage to turn your alarm off and go back to bed, and manage to make it to work on time everyday

Just get your phone and go straight downstairs!

@BathroomBuffalo

I have the Alarmy app on my phone, it has various options such as maths problems to solve, a QR code you have to scan, before it will let you snooze the alarm. I sometimes have two different maths alarms at set times followed by a QR code to do which is an item in the bathroom.

It is hard, I get it, people saying 'just get up' dont seem to realise you can still be half asleep when you get up to turn the alarm off and go back to bed. This way works for me because I have to use my brain to solve the maths problems which wakes me up

That's a great recommendation. I'm going to look into this thanks

I can recommend a 5 year old that would wake you at 5.30 guaranteed.

You need to learn some self control, not seek some amazing alarm clock that you think is going to change your life!

People saying it’s about being tougher with yourself and just getting up really do not understand this. I used to be like this and honestly it was severe depression, I just didn’t realise it at the time. I could sleep for 14 hours or 4 hours and still feel exactly the same when I woke up.

I did get a sunrise clock and it helped a bit. But honestly the thing that helped the most was changing career, ending my relationship and moving to a different country. Might be a bit dramatic for you .

But maybe go and speak to the doctor and get some blood work done if nothing else - iron levels etc can all affect tiredness.

Lol @ the people telling OP to just get up! I used to be like this, forever snoozing until I absolutely had to leave. I am just not a morning person. I'd do everything (shower, pack lunch, prep breakfast etc) the night before to give me extra minutes in bed. Honestly, the only thing that has actually worked has been having a baby. That cry is the only thing that jerks me awake and out of bed. Not helpful, I know, but I 100% get how you feel in the morning.
I also found it a little easier to get out of bed when I knew I had something lovely to look forward to like a pastry for breakfast or a takeaway coffee.

Stop using the snooze button at all and set the alarm for when you want or need to get up. 30 Minutes "snooze" loses 30 minutes of proper sleep.

Aim to go to bed and get up at the same time every day - even weekends.

Make sure you allow a large enough sleep window.

Read "Why we sleep" by Matthew Walker for inspiration and to understand the importance of sleep for our physical and mental health.

I hear you OP. I have CFS and mornings are hard. I need a good hour to wake up before I can function. Stuff like a teasmaid by the bed helps. Mornings are when I get my best sleep and I really do struggle to get up. I try and set my alarm for an hour before I need to be up, have my tea in bed and then drag myself out. Often I'll let myself take my breakfast back to bed too. There are still some days, that like you, I roll out of bed at the last minute though. Be kind to yourself, you are trying to help yourself and that's a positive thing.

Get up on your first alarm and go straight into a shower. It wakes you right up. I do this when I’m feeling my most tired so I’m not tempted.

I get it. I'm not a morning person. I love my bed. I get it. I'd be up working etc. til midnight and I'd snooze til 10am if I could.

I left my phone on the other side of the room last night for the first time, but would have slept through the alarm had my husband not woken me to get up turn it off.

But once I was up, I got in the shower and ended it on a cold blast. It was so much better having a longer morning. I'll be doing it every night now.

I would say, as an ex-teacher, that I found it harder to get up when I was teaching than I do now I'm in a new job. It's SUCH an exhausting and all-consuming job, I was always tired. How are you finding work?

Ive tried the trick of leaving your phone on the other side of the room - I simply get it, snooze the alarm and get back into bed

Well there's your problem then. That's easily fixed.

You are choosing to go back to bed - there’s no gravitational force dragging you back there. You manage to get up when you absolutely have to, even though it leaves you stressed.

Stop with the snooze business as it’s just interrupting quality sleep and will make you more tired. Set an alarm (on the other side of the room if needs be) and get up.

I do get it, I enjoy snoozing and find it difficult to leap out of bed. The best way ti do it is either have an hour snoozing which is intensely irritating to others, or drag yourself up and into the shower immediately. The water wakes me up a lot better. Also Set an alarm out if your bedroom too i.e. on the landing too.

God people are so rude and unhelpful.

I get this OP.

Can you try having a cold coffee like one of those Starbucks bottles, or an energy drink, by your bed?

Pet vomiting alarm - guaranteed to get you up;

www.iphoneness.com/iphone-apps/odd-alarm-iphone-app/

Are you drinking enough water through the day? If i don't drink enough i am seriously sluggish in the mornings. Also try an have a light snack only in the evening and a good walk a few hours before bed

Are you generally tired? Have you had things like your iron levels checked? I know when mine are very low I find it incredibly hard to get up.

You could try my old trick from my tour rep days. Lots of late nights followed by early mornings . I used to put a battery operated alarm clock in a cash tin, a lockable one. Then I would put the key downstairs in the kitchen. It would go off and annoy the hell out of me so I had to go downstairs and get the key. After that I would be awake enough to not jump back into bed.