Help me wake up in the morning

Geod

So, I have troubles getting up in the morning and need some ideas for helping me get out of bed. Whatever I do, I just can't seem to wake up. Oh, I'll set my alarm for 6:30am which puts on the radio. I might half listen for a few minutes, then I'll hit snooze or stop. I've tried setting other alarms for 7, 8, and 9, but I also hit snooze or stop on them. Regardless of all this, I always get to work on time which is before 10am. For some reason in the back of my head I know I don't have to wake up early, as long as I get to work by 10, so no matter my intentions when I go to bed, I just can't force myself awake. This works in the same way with other things, if something is going on at a certain time I'll 99% of the time wake up in time to make it, but can't seem to wake up earlier than that. I've also tried setting my alarms out at various places around my apartment, but it doesn't matter either... I'll just go get them, stop them, then stumble back to bed.

I typically go to bed around 11:00pm, which I figure would be plenty of time to wake up at 6:30am, and I sleep fine. I don't know what my problem is. If I could wake up earlier I could get more done in the morning and mainly get back from work earlier.

So, any ideas or suggestions on how to do this?

TheRealBadger

Find the most annoying alarm you can and put it on the other side of the room so that you have to get up to turn it off. It makes waking up a painful experience but it works a treat

Bob Sapp

Put your alarm somewhere where you have to get out of bed to turn it off. If necessary, find ways to allow the sun to shine into the room in the morning because that helps.

JebusUD

set the alarm by the sink and then wash your face when you go to shut it off. that should wake you up some.

Or get one of those alarms that wont shut off unless you do somthing. Like a puzzle. Or the one that jumps off the table and rolls around the room.

Or maybe plan somthing where you have to be there earlier. Because you said you would wake up for that.

khain

Is there a reason you want to wake up earlier to begin with? I do the same thing so instead of working out in the morning before work I just do it after.

Mai-Kero

Move your alarm clock away from the bed, so you actually have to get up and start moving to turn it off.

Geod

Yeah, as said moving the alarm clock away from my bed doesn't help. I'll just turn it off and go back to bed.

And yes, I want to get up earlier so I can get home from work earlier and have time to do things at night.

Do they actually make alarm clocks that force you to solve a puzzle to get them to stop? Getting my mind going in the morning usually helps.

Organichu

My alarm doesn't even make me stir. I think I need something shriller.

Sanius

A lot of people think that if you exercise you will need more sleep, but I feel like I need less, so I recommend that you try to fit exercise into you week. When I did such, I slept like a baby and could hop out of bed with just five hours of sleep.

Geod

Sanius wrote: »

A lot of people think that if you exercise you will need more sleep, but I feel like I need less, so I recommend that you try to fit exercise into you week. When I did such, I slept like a baby and could hop out of bed with just five hours of sleep.

Yeah, that's another reason why I want to wake up earlier in the first place, so I can exercise after work. As it stands though, I don't have enough time.

I found some puzzle clocks through Google... look interesting enough, might try them.

http://www.gadget4all.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00271
http://www.latestbuy.com.au/puzzle_clock_gadget.html

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming if you have them.

khain

Geod wrote: »

And yes, I want to get up earlier so I can get home from work earlier and have time to do things at night.

Are you also going to bed earlier when you try to wake up earlier?

Geod

khain wrote: »

Geod wrote: »

And yes, I want to get up earlier so I can get home from work earlier and have time to do things at night.

Are you also going to bed earlier when you try to wake up earlier?

Yeah, usually somewhere from 10pm-11pm.

Smasher

Even if you fall asleep instantly when you go to bed that's only seven and a half hours of sleep. Are you sure that's enough? The average amount is eight hours, but I know people who need ten hours of sleep to really feel rested, and this could be your body's way of telling you you need more.

If I were you I'd just set my alarm to 8 or 8:30 for a few days and see if I could get up without too much trouble then. I know you're going back to bed later than that, but that could be because you're interrupting your sleep cycle constantly with all the alarms and thus not getting any good sleep after the first one. If that helps then you'll need to find a way to go to sleep earlier without cutting into the night activities you're trying to do in the first place.

JWashke

ten hours of sleep seems way excessive no matter who you are, unless your work a very labor intensive job. and a half hours seems fine for a normal person.

For getting up earlier, take whatever time you need to be up for work, and add a half hour. So if you need to be up by 9:30 get up at 9. Do this for a week at a time and slowly adjust earlier. Going from 9:30 to 6:30 is asking for failure unless you have superior willpower. Also make sure you get up at this time on days you don't have to work too. Eventually when you get set with a time that you wake up at everyday, your body will just get you up at that time and you'll find you can't sleep later than that even if you wanted to, but only if you get up at this time everyday regardless of whether you have plans.

You can get a puzzle alarm or whatever, but theres a certain point where you have to have the willpower to just get up. When your alarm goes off go splash some water on your face or something.

Kate of Lokys

I recommend finding a sound capable of piercing through your morning fuzziness. The trouble with most alarms is, even if they're loud, the sound is very regular, so it's easy to just tune out.

I have a basic radio alarm clock, absolutely nothing fancy. What I do to make it work is set the FM tuner just off an actual station. When it goes off, the sound waking me up isn't a nice even *beep beep beep*, it's a terrifying burst of static-flickering random voices with snatches of half-heard music. It is the worst sound in the world, but combined with needing to walk across my room to turn it off, I am always wide the fuck awake by the time I fumble for the off switch.

wasted pixels

Kate of Lokys wrote: »

I am always wide the fuck awake by the time I fumble for the off switch.

And so is everybody else who happens to be in the room; even people who were planning on sleeping in. >_>

Kate of Lokys

wasted pixels wrote: »

Kate of Lokys wrote: »

I am always wide the fuck awake by the time I fumble for the off switch.

And so is everybody else who happens to be in the room; even people who were planning on sleeping in. >_>

The tingle in your ears as if millions of delicate nerves suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced just tells you it's working.

Tav

My mobile phone has an alarm which vibrates as well as making a noise. I set them alarm and then put the phone into a tin, so that the reverberations are very loud. In order to stop the alarm, I have to get up, go across the room, open the tin, fumble with the phone and then lock the phone again.

Pain in the arse, but works a treat.

Smasher

JWashke wrote: »

ten hours of sleep seems way excessive no matter who you are, unless your work a very labor intensive job. and a half hours seems fine for a normal person.

Seven and a half to eight hours is fine for many people, and some people need less than that. That range is an average though, and some people need more.

I'm not saying he necessarily needs ten hours, and maybe he doesn't need more sleep at all, but what he describes sure sounds a lot like he's tired because he's not getting enough sleep. All this is assumming that he's even getting seven and a half hours, which assumes he's falling asleep very soon after he goes to bed. I don't believe he's commented on that.

Rufus_Shinra

Smasher wrote: »

JWashke wrote: »

ten hours of sleep seems way excessive no matter who you are, unless your work a very labor intensive job. and a half hours seems fine for a normal person.

Seven and a half to eight hours is fine for many people, and some people need less than that. That range is an average though, and some people need more.

I'm not saying he necessarily needs ten hours, and maybe he doesn't need more sleep at all, but what he describes sure sounds a lot like he's tired because he's not getting enough sleep. All this is assumming that he's even getting seven and a half hours, which assumes he's falling asleep very soon after he goes to bed. I don't believe he's commented on that.

Adolescents need ~8 hours of sleep, adults need ~7. Also, I would say it depends on the person. On weekdays I average 6 hours of sleep and have no problem. Just go with what you feel comfortable with.

I can't imagine fitting 10 hours of sleep into my schedule.

Underdog

Keep your blinds open too. Natural light helps me wake up but then I'm a pretty light sleeper.

Soviet Waffle

Do you feel rested when you wake up later, or still tired?

Fizban140

Being in the military I switch schedules all the time so its important to be able to adjust quickly. The best method I have found (and the most obvious) is to put your alarm clock across the room. Make sure when it goes off you immediately get up turn it off and get on with your morning routine. Don't stop to rest or lay down or anything like that, do everything quick too. If you really need to, a cold shower will wake you up no matter how much or little sleep you got.

Monolithic_Dome

Drink 2 big glasses of water before you go to bed.

Kronus

When I need to get up with an alarm, I always team it up with my Zune. If I don't think I can roll myself out of bed, I turn on the tunes on loud for a while and just lay in bed until I'm awake. If necessary, keep the MP3 player with you for a while to make sure you're not going to go back to bed after turning it off.

Vmikesmitty

As everyone has said, move that alarm clock. Make sure you are going to bed earlier, and slowly work your way from your old wake time to your new one. In addition to all of this, be aware of what your sleep is like, do you wake up frequently? Have a hard time falling asleep? Not getting in a deep enough sleep?

Exercise generally helps with this, so if you can get an exercise routine also that can be a huge help. Also pay attention to what you are eating during the late afternoon and evening. Cut out the evening coffee and caffinee so your body can wind down and fall asleep. When you do sleep cut out excess noise, turn of the radio, tv, computer. In most cases these things keep your mind active and make it more difficult to fall asleep in a timely manner and can influence how deep of a sleep you are actually falling into.

codetrap

Fizban140 wrote: »

Being in the military I switch schedules all the time so its important to be able to adjust quickly. The best method I have found (and the most obvious) is to put your alarm clock across the room. Make sure when it goes off you immediately get up turn it off and get on with your morning routine. Don't stop to rest or lay down or anything like that, do everything quick too. If you really need to, a cold shower will wake you up no matter how much or little sleep you got.

This is good advice. If you don't have the willpower to follow through with your intentions, no amount of gadgetry in the world is going to help you. It all boils down to simply deciding "I'm going to get up when my alarm goes off, no matter what!" and following through with it.

Personal Responsibility.

Houk the Namebringer

I want to second the advice about finding ways to let the sunlight in. The human body is pretty tuned into the sun's effects, and natural sunlight is a great way to tell your body it's time to be awake.

Kathemo

Here are some alarm tips that might be useful if you can't find yourself going about an routine right after you hit off/snooze the alarm:

[x] Multiple alarm clocks triggered for either the same time or one minute apart.

[x] A moving alarm clock, such as clocky

[x] Light alarm clock - the alarm clock gradually lights up - but they're pricey.biobrite.com

Iruka

Sunlight helps alot, and if its easy for you, I suggest heading strait to the shower after waking up. If I snap out of bed dont get back in it and go striat to the shower, Im golden. If your alarm is across the room and your getting back in bed, will power is the problem.

I used to use my TV as an alarm, have it come on at a medium volume to a news channel a good ten to fifteen minutes before I wanted to get up, and then have my alarm clock go off. Its a good combo of being lulled awake, being jarred awake, and having something to hold your attention when you wake up.

Frosty

Multiple alarms, spaced far apart. A friend of mine used to have an alarm across the room from where he slept, and another one in the bathroom down the hall. This way he wakes up, walks over to turn the first one off, then has to keep going to turn the 2nd one off. By this time hes already in the bathroom and it makes it that much easier to just start getting ready

This was in his own apartment however - if you live with others it might start conflicting with their schedules depending on when they have to get up or where things are located

Atlus Parker

This seems like a cool alarm clock. A Laser Target Alarm Clock.