What are your tips/tricks for getting out of bed in the morning?

iambaldjohn · 1 year

Not for myself, but for my teenage kids. I use to keep a bag of frozen marbles and pour out the marbles under the topsheet when they didn't get up. There is no escaping these cold round balls of glass. The kids move, and the marbles will continue to roll toward them stopping only when they are physically touching them. After 2-3 times of doing this, all I had to do is shake the bag. More effective and less clean up than any other method I could think of.

EDIT Thank everyone for the upvotes. I never thought in a million years that people would agree with my torture.

LemonyLime · 1 year

For a while I had my alarm as the old Batman theme. I would jolt awake and jump out of bed when I heard it because I was like, "Shit, someone's in trouble!!"

PuppyAttack · 1 year

[deleted]

patdennis · 1 year

This may sound silly, but I switched from sleeping in boxers to sleeping in pajamas, and also bought a bathrobe. For some reason warmer = easier to get out of bed. For me at least.

sbussy89 · 1 year

Get a clock radio with adjustable volume and turn it all the way up. I had the same problem before I did this, now every morning I am scared shitless and it's impossible to fall back asleep.

Applesauces · 1 year

1)Set alarm clock for 30 minutes before you need to be awake.

2)Wake up, chug an 8 oz. can of any random energy drink.

3)Go back to sleep.

4)Wake up 30 minutes later from heart pains.

DarthContinent · 1 year

If you're sluggish in the mornings, maybe you're snoring or suffering sleep apnea? I've had this before, my wife would tell me I'd stop breathing for a few seconds after inhaling, as if stuck holding my breath, then exhale finally; those mornings I'd wake up feeling like I hadn't gotten any sleep.

Maybe try some anti-snoring spray or the strips or other devices that help keep your airway open? Also avoid eating dairy stuff before bed. Could also try one of these sunrise-simulating clocks if the (simulated) light of day might help get your ass out of bed.

lidia040 · 1 year

Set your laptop by the bed. When your alarm goes off, the lure of reddit/internet will prevent you from just dosing off again.

puredoubt · 1 year

i have had this problem for many years (since teen age). reading some of the responses on this thread ("nut up and get out of fucking bed.." or "get up early and do such-and-such") basically tells me what i've always suspected. most people simply DO NO understand this problem.

i've always had at least three alarm clocks, typically set at around 20-40 minutes apart. basically, they're set at an interval apart such that when the first one gives up from hitting snooze repeatedly, the second one will begin and so on. it's not unusual for me to hit snooze up to 80 - 90 times with no memory. or, sometimes i'll wake up and find the alarm clocks have been unplugged.

i tried the whole american indian trick of drinking lots of water before bed, the idea being that having to pee will wake you up earlier... i just pissed the bed.

i've also had done the dreaming-morning thing... where i'm getting up, showering, having coffee, getting dressed, driving to work/airport, whatever... everything I'm supposed to be doing. only to wake up and suddenly realize it was all a dream and i'm still in bed. as you said, it is IMPOSSIBLE to control your morning behavior if you are NOT CONSCIOUS!!!

so, believe me, i understand what you're saying. I still haven't mastered this problem myself, but here are some tips you can try... hopefully one will work for you.

really bust your ass at the gym... i find the more physically tired i am, the earlier i'll fall asleep, and the earlier i'll wake up.
sleep next to a large window such that when the dawn comes, the sun will burn into your face and eyes for a couple hours before you need to be up.
put your coffee pot right next to your bed and put one of those timer dealies on it. when it automatically makes coffee in the morning, the smell may help arouse you.
try one of those progressive alarm clocks (I still wanna try this one myself).

I can attest, the "zombie self" problem is real.. and it's a very difficult thing to live with. so, all you assholes here telling him to just suck it up and do what everyone else in the world does -- get out of fucking bed.. shut your faces. just because you don't have this problem and don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't exist or the OP's a pussy.

that is all.

leo6 · 1 year

Develop a neurosis. It works wonders. Mine is to begin thinking about all of the shit I have to do during the day. Soon, the worry starts to creep in, and within a few moments my heart rate and blood pressure are sky high and I couldn't stay in bed if I tried. In fact, I feel "late" and will rush to get going.

With practice, this technique will work well at 2:00 am even.

nom_thee_ack · 1 year

get 2 Labradors

BritishEnglishPolice · 1 year

Glass of water by your bed. Drink the whole thing when you wake up, and turn on the light.

crickets · 1 year

-Set alarm at 7:00

-Drink entire glass of milk

-Sleep again

-Wake up at 7:30 with an urgent need to shit

And, you're up. Plus you're regular as hell. Works extra good for lactose intolerant folks

Vitalstatistix · 1 year

I recorded stern messages to myself like, "Peter, you need to wake the fuck up", "Peter, today is a very important day, get out of bed".

You might think I'm joking, but when you hear your name as you're waking up+important!, your body just kind of reacts in zombie mode.

hayze99 · 1 year

Step 1: Buy a lockbox (the type that locks with a key)
Step 2: Put alarm clock in lockbox
Step 3: Lock lockbox
Step 3: Put the key next to kettle/shower/through obstacle course
Step 4: Watch flatmates laugh at you as you frantically trudge around trying to find where you left the key
Step 5: Go to class

protestantworkethic · 1 year

I recommend this

I wake up now. There's some part of my brain that now realizes that snooze/10 minutes = SarahPalinPAC $5. I am so repulsed that I jump out of bed.

gilesdudgeon · 1 year

Angry girlfriend.

mojowo11 · 1 year

Get a clock from thinkgeek.

I've been wanting to get one of these for a while.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/9171/

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/8f1a/

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/91f2/

*formatting.

case_insensitive · 1 year

get a pet, dont feed it at night, you'll have to get up and feed it to shut it up, works great for cats like mine that don't know how to shut the hell up even when they just ate a whole cup of meow mix market select with real tuna & whole shrimp in sauce because that's the only kind you like and refuse to eat any of the other flavors because you're a spoiled little kitty, aren't you, aren't you look at you... aww, look at you, you're a kitty..

damn it

perfectheat · 1 year

The Sleep Cycle Alarm for the IPhone has done wonders for some of my friends.

insomniaclyric · 1 year

Go to bed earlier. I know it's not the easiest thing but you can somewhat alter your rhythm over time so that it becomes more natural for you to be more awake earlier in the morning. The 'zombie-self' you experience in the early hours is a pretty clear indication that your body does not feel it has had enough time to rest. Instead of giving it more time in the morning, give it more time at night.

I'm well aware that this is easier said than done. Start by heading to bed just 30 minutes earlier than usual, which, if you think about it, is exactly the same as having 30 extra minutes of sleep in the morning.

demooo · 1 year

This!

1 year

[deleted]

Swan_Writes · 1 year

Have a cat? Don't leave food out overnight. When they wake you in the morning (and they will) get right up and feed them. They will continue to wake you early every morning, more soft and fuzzy than any alarm, and their "snooze" option only last as long as you pet them.

Unidan · 1 year

HOW TO WAKE UP

1.) Buy a simple scale.
2.) Buy several chickens.
3.) Buy fifty spitting cobras.
4.) Get spool of thread.
5.) Get small box with liftable door.
6.) Tie thread to door top.
7.) Tie other side of thread to one side of scale.
8.) Place chickens on other side of scale, rumps facing in.
9.) Fill box with cobras before going to bed.
10.) When morning comes, chickens will lay eggs on scale, lifting the other side, releasing the cobras.

Oh, also, you need to sleep in the same room as the cobra-box. Cobrox.

Note: bed will be unusable for following night due to copious amounts of cobra spittle.

misterAction · 1 year

Set your clock to be 30 minutes ahead. When you first see what time it is when you wake up, your half-asleep brain will go "holy shit, I'm late!" I've been doing this for years, and I'm a bit ashamed of its efficiency.

marnanel · 1 year

When I lived in a shared house before I got married, I used to keep my computer on my desk on the other side of my bedroom.

I set up a cron job to play Bela Lugosi's Dead at seven o'clock every morning. The thing about that song, apart from its being awesome, is that it starts quite quietly before all the singing and the wailing guitars. So I had to get myself out of bed, log in, and type killall mpg123 before that part came on, or I would have been less than popular with my housemates. By that time I was awake enough not to fall back into bed, enough to get myself into the shower, which would finish waking me up.

p.s. I am not a goth.

TheUnixFamily · 1 year

Have a dream that you're about to seal the deal with a really hot chick (in your bed, this is important), and as you yank off her skirt BAM big dick in your face.

Happened to me this morning and holy shit did I get out of bed quick. Literally jumped out and looked back in horror and then realized it was a dream...and that I was up at 6AM alert and ready to tackle the day.

tl;dr: penis nightmares.

seanmmcdonald · 1 year

I rely on Math Alarm (Android). It forces you to solve a math problem to hit snooze. By the time you've handled something like "84+12-16/2" you are pretty much cognizant.

here's the link

Someoneoldbutnew · 1 year

wake + bake, works every time. although getting anything done might be troublesome.

The_Gopher · 1 year

This is going to be buried under the hundreds of comments in this thread, but hopefully somebody notices it.

I used to smash my alarm clock and the stupid snooze button to a point where I'd be hours late to shit, and I hated it. I hated never waking up earlier than 12 if I didn't have to do anything. I hated getting stuck in bed until I had a headache. I hated being up until 4 in the morning sitting on my ass on the computer and trying to figure out why I couldn't make myself go to bed.

Now? Now I don't wake up later than 9am. Now I only hit my snooze button a few times a month. Now I don't stay up past 2am except on occasion. Now, when my alarm clock goes up I just get out of bed, turn it off and go on with my day, no matter how tired I am right then and there.

I changed because I really, really wanted to change. I didn't realize this is what I was doing, because when I had an inclination to get up earlier, I started by getting up anytime in the morning, and showering immediately after getting up. I did this for 2 weeks before I got lazy and stopped showering right after I got up. I didn't get lazy about waking up, and just kept getting up in the morning.

I had a couple of things leading up to this that really helped me out.

1) I moved out of my parents house and wound up renting a room with a huge window facing East with no blinds. Without fail at 7am every morning it was blinding bright.

2) I got a clock radio that had an ipod dock. I change the song I wake up to every few days, because you get used to it and have a tendency to sleep through it. I have a couple of songs I know wake me up super gently, but I save those for special occasions when I really want to be at 100%

3) I worked a job at a coffee shop. I had to be at work at 4:45-5:30 am on regular occasion. Not wanting to lose my job, and frequently whiffing my alarm because I would smash snooze put a lot of pressure on me. I kinda sucked it up after awhile because I wanted to keep my job and got to a point where I could wake up at whatever time I wanted, no matter how tired I was and just go.

4) I found my perfect sleep cycle is ~7hrs. More than 8 hours I'm a zombie. It took some trial and error to figure it out but you'll know it once you hit it. People always say "go to bed earlier," and they're on the right track, just not quite there. Go to bed so that you will be able to fully complete the amount of sleep you need with time left over. My roommate goes to bed 2 hours earlier than me on average because he needs ~10 hours of sleep.

The key thing is that I really wanted to change my sleeping habits. I didn't say to myself "ok starting today blah blah blah", I just did it and didn't really give it much thought. The result was a direct byproduct of subconscious effort I believe.

wesblog · 1 year

Never hit snooze. Ever.

Hitting snooze is an addiction that is hard to break.

Problem_Is · 1 year

SOLUTION: Get more sleep.

phathiker · 1 year

one word....kids

[deleted] · 1 year

Eat more raw vegetables, especially dark green ones. When I mean more I mean with every meal, including breakfast. I'm talking more than a pound of veg a day. This has the effect of increasing your quality and depth of sleep (veg cleans the blood.)
Exercise. Hit the gym early, before work if you're able. You'll feel more energized for the whole day and you'll find it easier to sleep at night.
Don't rely on caffeine. Caffeine abuse is a fast way to adrenal burn out. I used to drink a carafe before breakfast and hardly feel it. I haven't drunk coffee in years and now if I do it makes me REALLY wired and cranky.
Get a light alarm. I live in the UK so the sun's strength is pathetic. I noticed that when I was overseas I would wake naturally at 5.30-6.30am and feel VERY tired at the end of the day even though I was half as busy as I am in the UK. The increased sun exposure causes the Circadian rhythm to be stronger which meant I slept better.
Don't fall asleep during the day no matter how tired you are.
Get up at the same time every day including weekends. If you're not tired at your normal bed time don't go to bed. Rather do something else until you are tired. If you are routinely not tired before bed set your alarm half an hour earlier each day until you are tired at night. Your waking time should be the same every day and your going to bed time should be dictated by tiredness.
Never ever sleep during the day. This upsets the hormone cycle which in part governs sleep patterns.
Depth and quality of sleep seem to be governed by health. When I am eating well I sleep well and conversely. When I eat well and exercise I can feel amazing on 5.5 hours or less. When I don't eat well I feel exhausted on 9 hours.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Eat lots of raw veg.
There are genetic factors involved in the amount of sleep you need. Just because your friend gets by on 4-5 hrs doesn't mean you can even if you are in optimal health.

two_days_late · 1 year

I set the alarm on my phone to the Macgyver theme song

danoconnor · 1 year

Get a wake up light...

I have this http://www.consumer.philips.com/c/light-therapy/38702/cat/gb/?tab=Wake+up+naturally

Brilliant!

[deleted] · 1 year

Buy this little number.

JackalsNose · 1 year

A couple of suggestions: 1) Drink a lot of water before you sleep, you'll have to use the bathroom in the morning. 2) Set 2 alarms at least 15 minutes apart. After the first one, you can nap for a while and you should feel better by the second alarm. 3) (This one is probably the best) Do something you are excited about/want to do in the morning. For example, when I know I'll be seeing a good friend soon or finishing a project, it is harder for me to make myself sleep. I want to get going.

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