Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
sanityisamyth · 23/09/2023 04:47

Alexa now has a function where the lights can come on to mimic sunrise. This is linked to your alarm so can be set for any time. Helps me waking up with the lights already on!

Tips for getting up early
BertieBotts · 23/09/2023 12:07

I also think if you're not neurotypical you have to disregard some aspects of neurotypical advice.

For example someone said that a single allowed snooze helps them. I agree. I feel assaulted and jarred when I have an alarm that I have to immediately respond to with movement. Likewise I hate showering when I've just woken up, it makes me feel horrible - most people say that it helps them. For me it's just too much, it's a sensory overload. I shower at a different time of day, most commonly mid-morning, sometimes evening.

And another piece of common advice is NOT to go on your phone/open social media as soon as you wake up. But, again, doing this actually helps me. I don't know whether it's related to dopamine - I just read somewhere else that dopamine will suppress melatonin, and if you have ADHD then you're not producing enough dopamine which would explain feeling extra sleepy on waking. Social media feeds the dopamine system, which is why it can be unhelpful - and you do need some kind of backup system to prevent the scenario where you're still in bed 2 hours later scrolling/dozing/scrolling. But it can give me the boost to stay awake long enough to get out of that lizard "back to sleeeeeeep" instinct.

Lastly a few people have mentioned alarms which are placed, or move away from the bed, this is a useful option, but the downside of it is that they tend to need to be very loud, which can disturb other people, and if it's in the same room, then I don't know about other people but if it's in the same room then it's still close enough that I'll turn it off and then find it very hard to fight the urge to crawl immediately back into bed, especially if it's cold.

Gamechanger I found for this is to use an app which makes you scan a barcode, NFC chip, QR code, or similar. (There are some which use photos but I think this is glitchy due to inconsistent lighting). This way, the source of the NOISE can be close to you, meaning that it can be quite quiet and not disturb others, you can also have it use vibration etc, but the source of the being-able-to-turn-it-off is further away, so you actually have to get out of bed and be some distance away from your bed by the time it is deactivated. For me, the best place I've found to put it is in my bathroom, because I always need a wee when I've just woken up and that gives me a reason to stay in there even longer, further bypassing that "must return to sleep" stage.

Someone said about making it warm when you get up - YES. If you feel uncomfortable having a heater on a timer, buy a warm cosy dressing gown or a "fake oodie". Primark and supermarkets are probably getting them in around now. Buy two so you can have one in the wash. And slippers/cosy socks too. I don't want to leave my duvet, so I effectively have a duvet I can bring with me.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread