Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Tips for getting up early

102 replies

CandleLight11 · 21/09/2023 00:36

AIBU to ask for tips for getting up early? Please share any bits of wonderful advice or habits or techniques you might have. I just can't seem to consistently do it even though I really really want to.
IABU - just do it
IANBU - it's really difficult

OP posts:
givemeasunnyday · 21/09/2023 06:17

Get a demanding cat!! By the time mine has yowled for half an hour or longer I am more than ready to get up.

Vegetus · 21/09/2023 06:21

Don't snooze. Put your alarm in a position where it's annoying to turn off, preferably somewhere you have to get out of bed to do it.

Light straight on and sit up right.

Runrabbitrun2 · 21/09/2023 06:22

Know that it will be painful for approx 3 minutes. Jump out of bed and do your teeth and splash cold water on your face straight away. Instant wake up.
never ever ever snooze , you’ll only feel worse for it.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 21/09/2023 06:23

I think it depends what you mean by early. If you’re a presenter on breakfast TV, for example, and have to get up at 3.30am, I can see it would be challenging. But if you just mean getting up at 6 or something - a normal time - just train yourself to do it. Alarm goes off, get out of bed, get straight into the shower. It becomes habit after a while 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ostryga · 21/09/2023 06:24

I set my alarm half a hour before I have to get up so I can go back to sleep and don’t feel cheated out of a snooze. Makes actually getting up much easier! i get up between 5:30 and 6:15am.

Girlintheframe · 21/09/2023 06:28

Going to bed earlier is a must! You still need 7-8 hours so depending what time you want to get up at be in bed ready to sleep 7-8 hours before.

Just do it. Once the alarm goes off just get up, no snooze. It's hard at first but it soon becomes habit. If it helps, position your alarm away from your bed so you have to get up to turn it off. If you sleep alone or your partner gets up at the same time one of those sunrise alarms would be great. They gradually brighten the soon signaling to your brain it's morning.

Have every time sorting the night before that way your not lying in bed thinking..must remember this or that plus it means your morning will run a lot smoother.

ArcticBells · 21/09/2023 06:31

I got home at 9 pm last night and got up at 4 am. Work. No option.

Taylorswiftserastour · 21/09/2023 06:33

Have a baby who wakes every 1-2hrs in the night and then wakes up for the day at 5.30am every morning for 2 years which ruins your body clock, allows you to survive on very little sleep and makes you think 6am is a lie in.

In less extreme suggestions, get everything ready the night before, don't snooze your alarm, drink a glass of water and get straight in the shower.

Crazyjanes · 21/09/2023 06:37

Borrow a small child?

one thing that helps me is to give myself time to chill. So I know if I get up at 6.45 I will be sitting on the couch with a coffee for 15 minutes rather than straight from bed to rushing around.

orrr… have your alarm far away so you have to get up to get it. I think there are also apps where you have to solve a puzzle in order to turn it off.

MyrtleSmurf · 21/09/2023 06:48

Crazyjanes · 21/09/2023 06:37

Borrow a small child?

one thing that helps me is to give myself time to chill. So I know if I get up at 6.45 I will be sitting on the couch with a coffee for 15 minutes rather than straight from bed to rushing around.

orrr… have your alarm far away so you have to get up to get it. I think there are also apps where you have to solve a puzzle in order to turn it off.

The time to chill is key for me. I get up at 5.25 and I have "nothing" times built into my routine so it's not getting up and being on the go all morning. Alarm goes off and I have 5 mins to snuggle/stretch/whatever. Then put the shower on, sort out clothes while it's getting to temperature. Do teeth, get dressed and do everything but hair when I come out of the shower and then read while I'm waiting for kids alarms to go off at 6.15. Then breakfast, then hair, then get ready to go.
I HATE getting up but this works for me!

WholeWorldsPivot · 21/09/2023 06:59

@Floofydawg True! I've been awake since 3.15am today... but then I did go to sleep at 8.30pm last night... I go through phases of waking up super early, so when one starts, I make sure I'm in bed earlier to compensate.

PurBal · 21/09/2023 07:01

Get a toddler.

MsFrost · 21/09/2023 07:10

Stop browsing Mumsnet well before nearly 1am 🤣

^This. Go to bed earlier, and put away all screens at least half an hour before you sleep.

I go to bed at 9.30/10 and never struggle to get up by 6am.

MariaVT65 · 21/09/2023 07:14

I think you just need to get on with it. Many of us have to get up early for work or other commitments or toddlers.

Go to bed earlier.

Don’t snooze.

If you don’t feel like getting up, remember you’ll always feel better after a shower, food and a coffee.

Tlolljs · 21/09/2023 07:17

Don’t understand the getting up with the sun. According to my phone it rose at 6.42 today. If I’d waited for that I’d be late for work.

RabbitsRock · 21/09/2023 07:21

Bit spooked by the idea of a rolling alarm clock!

Seddon · 21/09/2023 07:27

Team 'just do it'.

Even better if you 'just do it' 10-15 mins before you really need to, so you can just chill and get yourself mentally ready for the day, whether that's some stretching, savouring a cup of coffee in the garden, whatever makes you happy to be alive!

Keep doing it for a few days and you'll be tired enough to go to bed early to suit.

margotrose · 21/09/2023 07:28

Just do it. The longer you lie in bed, the more painful it is.

I get up, stick the kettle on, use the bathroom then it's up and on with the day.

Coffeepot72 · 21/09/2023 07:39

I think I'm genetically linked to Count Dracula somewhere along the line.

Same here @Wingedharpy perhaps you and I are distant cousins?!

I hate getting up early, but once I’m out of bed I’m generally ok.

GoryBory · 21/09/2023 07:49

Go to bed earlier.

Set your alarm but put it the other side of the room so you have to get up and turn it off - then don’t get back into bed!

I have 2 alarms.
1 is my phone which I set to go off earlier so I can snooze (I’m trying to get out of this habit though).
Then I have my plug in alarm which is the other side of the room.

Going outside wakes you up quickly.
If you can’t go outside then just opening the window and looking outside helps.

Getting all of your stuff ready the night before really helps too.

As @margotrose said, the longer you lie in bed the worse it is.
I’ve overslept before and when I realised I sprung up and got ready in 10 mins and was wide awake, whereas usually I’m snoozing my alarm and moping around in my dressing gown for ages.

anareen · 21/09/2023 07:51

Taylorswiftserastour · 21/09/2023 06:33

Have a baby who wakes every 1-2hrs in the night and then wakes up for the day at 5.30am every morning for 2 years which ruins your body clock, allows you to survive on very little sleep and makes you think 6am is a lie in.

In less extreme suggestions, get everything ready the night before, don't snooze your alarm, drink a glass of water and get straight in the shower.

I feel for you. I have a child who sees a sleep specialist. Does baby have a medical condition causing this? If not I would look at bed time routine. This should be 30 min. This is when you include things such as bath, stories and a snuggle. Then lights out and leave the room. No screen time about an hour before bedtime. This is surface level stuff. So many more factors can affect their quality and quantity of sleep.

Zanatdy · 21/09/2023 07:52

Just set your alarm and don’t snooze it. I naturally wake up around 5-5.30am now, even on weekends. I enjoy waking early now, can’t imagine lying in until 10 etc

NeedToChangeName · 21/09/2023 07:53

No afternoon naps. Get up at same time every day, so it becomes habit. I get up at 6.30am every day with no difficulty

My DSis likes a lie in at weekends and / or afternoon nap, but struggles to get up in the morning

IAmAnIdiot123 · 21/09/2023 07:55

As soon as that alarm goes, get straight in the shower and get dressed. That's the only way i feel human and actually accomplish anything. Don't touch your phone, if you start reading something it's game over and you might as well have just slept for longer.

Catsmere · 21/09/2023 07:58

givemeasunnyday · 21/09/2023 06:17

Get a demanding cat!! By the time mine has yowled for half an hour or longer I am more than ready to get up.

This cat would ensure prompt rising, too, I suspect!

Tips for getting up early