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AIBU?

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Original poster

To find it impossible to wake up? HELP!

155 replies

teethingproblems · 04/01/2022 16:55

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?

OP posts:
Nidan2Sandan · 05/01/2022 09:53

I hear you OP. I really struggle because I have insomnia. So my natural pattern is to fall asleep really late, and then sleep in late. But life isnt set up for the night owls.

I have my alarm on my watch which vibrates, I then make sure that as soon as I snooze it I do something to wake myself up. Usually it is to pick up my phone and start scrolling. It will only be Facebook or MN or the news but it's enough to start waking my brain up. After another 5 mins my watch vibrates again and I get up and in the shower.

For me I know that shutting my eyes again is the biggest mistake I can make so I fight against it. Its harsh but you need to do the same.

Thelnebriati · 05/01/2022 10:05

@Normski67

About the lumie alarm clocks- I’m interested in buying one but I need to get up before DH. Just how bright are they? Do they disturb your partners sleep or is the brightness subtle? I don’t think he would appreciate being in a light room before he needed to be if you see what I mean?
I think it would wake your partner, its designed to be difficult to sleep through.
Normski67 · 05/01/2022 10:44

Thank you @Thelnebriati

DeepaBeesKit · 05/01/2022 11:02

You need to gradually move your bedtime earlier.

On the weekend what time do you wake naturally? Don't count time spent lying relaxing in bed awake.

Then work back from that wake time to what time you go to bed to see how many hours sleep you need. Move your bedtime accordingly gradually. Stick to it for a few weeks though or it won't work. Try and have a cup of coffee or some food when you rise to help your body see that it's time to be awake.

LagunaBubbles · 05/01/2022 11:10

When you get up to your phone alarm at the other side of room why do you go back to bed?

TwinkleTwinkleLittleStarFightr · 05/01/2022 11:15

Another recommendation for the lumie sunrise, but also keep a vitamin D spray beside the bed with a glass of water. Drink the water as soon as you wake and then use the vitamin D spray.

BooksAndGin · 05/01/2022 11:31

You need to completely reset your body clock. You need to work out when you want to wake up and go around 9 hours back and that's when you need to sleep. It's hard at first but it does work. I sleep 11pm to 7.30 now and always wake up naturally without an alarm. It took me a few months to do it though. No screens a hour before bed too.

farendoftether · 05/01/2022 11:45

Not RTFT so not sure if it’s been mentioned but there’s a great app called Alarmy which you can set to make you do challenges like sums, walk a certain number of steps, or scan a barcode on something in your house to make you get up and your brain in gear. It’s been literally life changing as waking up for me is impossible, it’s like swimming up from the depths of the ocean.

farendoftether · 05/01/2022 11:46

It also has a setting where you have to confirm you’re actually awake after 5 mins otherwise you have to go through the whole thing again - stops you drifting back off to sleep.

Aprilx · 05/01/2022 11:58

@teethingproblems

Do you guys have any recommendations of alarms...?
An alarm is an alarm. Go to bed earlier and set it for earlier if you are having this much trouble. It is not rocket science.
Botherfreedays · 05/01/2022 12:07

Apologies, I haven’t read the thread so this may have been covered. Are you perimenopausal op? I was fine in the mornings, hit peri then could not get up in the morning (and to those saying ‘grow up’ you have no idea, it’s a physical problem). HRT was the solution for me and I’m back to my old self (didn’t need to ‘grow up’ Hmm).

Namechange600 · 05/01/2022 12:22

I’ve always been like this so following the thread for solutions.

Also chronic health conditions including pots, Mcas, eds endometriosis to name a few. I struggle to sleep early as a night owl and whole body hurts when I wake up early. I’d love a solution.

Branleuse · 05/01/2022 12:28

@ToddlingForwards

What’s the chance that all the “just get up” people are the ones who complain that all overweight people need to do is eat less and move more… if only we were all as perfect as them!

I found the sleep cycle app very helpful. You keep your phone next to you in bed, it tracks your sleeping patterns and then wakes you up when you’re in a lighter stage of sleep (you give it a window in which to wake you up). It woke me up much more effectively than any traditional alarm. (Past tense as now I have kids who do the job…)

well being fat doesnt stop you working. Its not as big an issue surely?

If you cant get up in the morning, then the only solutions are to just get up anyway and force the issue, or find a job that doesnt start in the mornings. Theres not really any way round the issue, even if it is bloody difficult. You have to take personal responsibility

ChiefInspectorParker · 05/01/2022 18:33

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

Branleuse · 05/01/2022 20:02

If its not as simple as get to bed earlier and get up whether you feel like it or not, then whats the answer? Noones going to come and make you get up.

HoxtonBonnet · 05/01/2022 21:31

I lay my clothes out the night before and when my alarm goes off I grab them and my towel and pretty much sleep walk to the bathroom. By the time I have had a hot shower I feel vaguely human.

I also have a morning routine that is set in stone - I allow myself a certain amount of time each for breakfast, sorting the kitchen and getting ready. It helps me to know what order I am doing things in and removes the stress.

Twillow · 05/01/2022 21:36

This is me! This is what has made a very significant difference (and I tried a Lumie with no success): smart lightbulb in main ceiling socket, set to fade on so that by the time your alarm goes it is fully bright and has already triggered your waking cycle.

Twillow · 05/01/2022 21:39

Along with the smart lightbulb, I set a google mini alarm which is pretty loud and insistent! I also have two phone alarms but they're more of the back up.

Chunkymonkey13 · 05/01/2022 21:40

I really struggle with this and started going to bed earlier / taking magnesium / iron and vit D.

I was boarderline low on iron but the doctors also checked thyroid/ diabetes etc and it might be good to get it checked out

Andacherryonthetop · 05/01/2022 21:42

My solution is a bit random. When I was younger I lived with my friend in a freezing damp cottage and I hated getting out of bed because of how cold I knew I would be. I invested in an electric blanket and would set my alarm an hour before I needed to get up and turn it on. It would make me so hot by the end of the hour that I actually wanted to get out of the bed! Maybe try that?! Or the lumie light everyone is recommending

shorttwoshot · 05/01/2022 21:45

@Normski67

About the lumie alarm clocks- I’m interested in buying one but I need to get up before DH. Just how bright are they? Do they disturb your partners sleep or is the brightness subtle? I don’t think he would appreciate being in a light room before he needed to be if you see what I mean?
I can sleep through mine, and my two children who sleep in my bed are totally dead to the world despite my light alarm clock. It depends what kind of sleeper he is, but I'd be fine x
SD1978 · 05/01/2022 21:45

I understand hitting the snooze if it's beside you, but it seems a tad childish to get out of bed, if the alarm is away from you, and then choose to go back to bed again. That's teenage petulant behaviour. You're up, so leave the bedroom. The Lume isn't bad, and Phillips do their lights to do a gradual wake up, although to be honest it didn't seem to do much for me, I slept through the light brightening

NiceShrubbery · 05/01/2022 21:56

I'm a bit like this in the winter. What works for me is eliminating what I really hate most about getting up. For me it's cold floors and feeling cold in general. So I shower the night before and sleep in M&S thermals so am warm on trip to bathroom. Fluffy socks at end of bed so I can put them on while still horizontal. Visualise coffee while in bathroom, mooch into kitchen, have coffee and am up. If you do live anywhere that wildlife (or even neighbours cats) might be present, 6-7am is a great time to see it; if not, that 10 mins of peace and silence can put a whole different slant on the day.

LifesABotch · 05/01/2022 22:00

@Normski67

About the lumie alarm clocks- I’m interested in buying one but I need to get up before DH. Just how bright are they? Do they disturb your partners sleep or is the brightness subtle? I don’t think he would appreciate being in a light room before he needed to be if you see what I mean?
They are quite bright, it's like having a bedside light on (admittedly, not a bright one.) but it is more like daylight light than a softer, yellower light, if that helps! It might well wake your husband too, but it's not unpleasant like a siren-type alarm!
Mammyloveswine · 05/01/2022 22:23

Oh i i couldve written this, im a teacher too!

I now get a lift with a colleague much earlier than i used to go in!

I give myself 30 minutes to get ready and have coffee/breakfast at school.

I am knackered op!