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Getting up and staying up without coffee

Captain UltraCaptain Ultra low resolution pictures of birdsRegistered User regular
Okay, so my new job (which I love btw. I don't get the chance to say that really) has had one downside compared to my last one. My last job I worked afternoons and nights (from 1:30-10:30) and so I could sleep in. But now, my current job starts at 8. (well, its an office job and the doors open at 8, but if I come in at 8:15, 8:30, no one cares) The issue is that I'm so not a morning person, and I feel at least kind of groggy until lunch.

I tried drinking coffee, but until now, I just didn't realize how much caffeine was in a cup of coffee, and maybe I just have a bad Constitution score, but it really started to affect me, drinking it everyday, to the point where I started getting really bad headaches on the days that I didn't drink any.

I figure that at least part of the equation is making sure I'm getting enough sleep, so I've been trying to go to bed earlier and earlier, but its been an effort changing my sleep schedule like that. Any tips on how to wake myself up without caffeine?

Posts

  • jurassicbondjurassicbond Registered User regular
    Have you tried tea? It's a lot less caffeine and I think your body doesn't absorb it as quickly so you it doesn't hit you as hard every morning as coffee. I drink it almost every morning, but I've never had any big issues on days I missed it.

  • PacificstarPacificstar Registered User regular
    Okay, so my new job (which I love btw. I don't get the chance to say that really) has had one downside compared to my last one. My last job I worked afternoons and nights (from 1:30-10:30) and so I could sleep in. But now, my current job starts at 8. (well, its an office job and the doors open at 8, but if I come in at 8:15, 8:30, no one cares) The issue is that I'm so not a morning person, and I feel at least kind of groggy until lunch.

    I tried drinking coffee, but until now, I just didn't realize how much caffeine was in a cup of coffee, and maybe I just have a bad Constitution score, but it really started to affect me, drinking it everyday, to the point where I started getting really bad headaches on the days that I didn't drink any.

    I figure that at least part of the equation is making sure I'm getting enough sleep, so I've been trying to go to bed earlier and earlier, but its been an effort changing my sleep schedule like that. Any tips on how to wake myself up without caffeine?

    Like anything else, if you're going to quit, you're going to have some withdrawal symptoms for a while. I am entirely caffeine free, and now getting up for me isn't an issue. If you feel groggy try just a little bit of exercise in the AM. Like 5 pushups or something. It usually helps me

  • Blake TBlake T Do you have enemies then? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered User regular
    I would look at your entire diet.

    Are you eating a healthy breakfast? A sensible lunch? Your diet week influence your sleep.

    Your best bet is to reset your sleep pattern and look at what you consume.

    Coffee isn't necessarily bad, but to much consumption can be problematic. Personally I make it a rule not to drink it after two in the morning.

  • dlinfinitidlinfiniti Registered User regular
    sreep hygiene
    force yourself into bed earlier
    no computers or phones around bed or sreep area

    AAAAA!!! PLAAAYGUUU!!!!
  • CreaganCreagan Registered User regular
    I am not even remotely a morning person. Like, I'm pretty sure if you left me to my own devices, I'd go to bed at 4 or 5 am and wake up at 2 pm. (Which may or may not be what I did yesterday... Heh.) But, I have class at 10:30 am two days a week. Which, with my commute, means I need to wake up at 7am if I want to be there on time.

    Now I do drink quite a bit of tea, but what really helps me is sleeping as late as I can. So I shower the night before I have class. I pack everything I'm taking with me the night before. I have my clothes ready. That gives me over an hour of extra sleep time and is the difference between me waking up at 6 am or earlier, and me waking up at 7 am.

    Also, doing things that get my blood moving, or adrenaline up help keep me alert. So like, getting up and walking around when I can helps a lot. Drinking cold water. Talking to somebody/participating in class. Doing the stressful part of my coursework. That sort of thing.

  • ThundyrkatzThundyrkatz Registered User regular
    First of all I would strongly suggest you get to work before 8 and be ready to start at 8 or before. I guarantee you that someone will/has noticed you are strolling in late every day. Worse, if you are punching it at 8, then you are stealing from the company.

    Secondly, be sure that you go to bed at a consistent time every day, even the weekends and vacation. If you flip your schedule on Saturday and Sunday then you will be constantly dragging the first half of the week.

    Next, give yourself some time to wake up in the morning before work. Get up, have some breakfast that is high in protein to get you full and ready for the day and try to stick with the schedule and in a few weeks it will become normal for you.

    lastly, its got to be important for you to make this happen. If you don't care if your there on time, then no amount of advice is going to keep you from hitting the snooze button.

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Okay, so my new job (which I love btw. I don't get the chance to say that really) has had one downside compared to my last one. My last job I worked afternoons and nights (from 1:30-10:30) and so I could sleep in. But now, my current job starts at 8. (well, its an office job and the doors open at 8, but if I come in at 8:15, 8:30, no one cares) The issue is that I'm so not a morning person, and I feel at least kind of groggy until lunch.

    Ah, my brother Child of the Night. I feel your pain. I worked overnight for about a decade and when an opportunity for advancement came up my real big serious concern was that it was an 8 am* job. I had to break some long standing habits and inclinations. This year I was out from work for a few months because of health reasons and sure enough, without keeping to a schedule I was up into the wee hours of the night and had to break myself back into schedule.
    I tried drinking coffee, but until now, I just didn't realize how much caffeine was in a cup of coffee, and maybe I just have a bad Constitution score, but it really started to affect me, drinking it everyday, to the point where I started getting really bad headaches on the days that I didn't drink any.

    Welcome to addiction. If you're going to use caffeine this way remember that it is easy to get acclimated to it. The more of it you drink the more of it you need to get it's attention increasing effects. If you keep using it then for the love of Jeebus be sure to drink some on your day off. Caffeine withdrawal sucks, with headaches and light sensitivity and all that shit. If I have to break a heavy habit I usually plan on that being my weekend activities while loading up on painkillers and trying to be alone because I am a jerk during that period.
    I figure that at least part of the equation is making sure I'm getting enough sleep, so I've been trying to go to bed earlier and earlier, but its been an effort changing my sleep schedule like that. Any tips on how to wake myself up without caffeine?

    Amount of sleep is a trap. I can sleep ten hours and not feel any more awake or rested then eight. In fact, the opposite can happen. At a certain point more sleep just leaves me more groggy and lethargic. I wake up feeling the most alert around seven hours of sleep but that wears on me if I keep it up long term.

    Wake up at a given time everyday. Saturdays and Sundays as well. No exceptions. Do this consistently and build up the habit for like a month or so. Grind it into the soul of your being. You do this right and you should be waking up before your alarm anyways. Once you've got it well established you can sleep in on the weekends though if you really have your own clock set this "sleeping in" is gonna be like an hour or two at most.

    Does your bedroom have windows? Make sure light can get in and give you a sort of subliminal feeling of time.

    When your alarm is set for is when you get up. Break your snooze button. When you get up do something that wakes you up.

    This is mainly about forming a habit for yourself. Once you do it, it will be effortless but forming that habit takes a lot of hard work and willpower.

    * With 6 am Saturday overtime. Fuck you, that is the opposite of what Saturday is about!

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    I'm not a morning person but I've worked the 8:30-5pm shift for 10 years now. For me drinking coffee is fairly optional, but what ive noticed is that its not the fact there is caffeen in the coffee that wakes me up when i do drink it, its just drinking something hot.

    Try having a hot quick breakfast when you wake up. instant oatmeal or grits..Something you can just boil some water in the microwave, pour it on top of, and scoop it down. the warm feeling inside gets me going just as well as coffee or tea.

    You could also try cocoa instead of coffee.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • KhavallKhavall British ColumbiaRegistered User regular
    So you're saying that the coffee is affecting you with the withdrawl symptoms but... are there any other problems?

    I mean if you want to stop drinking coffee as a general thing that's fine, but like... coffee's kind of amazing. It really does help attentiveness, it helps your metabolism, and the best part is that it doesn't really have any negative side-effects. For how dependent people can get on coffee, really the only negative effects are some mild withdrawl headaches for a day or two, and obviously no longer having the positive effects. Like it's a super, super mild withdrawl compared to any other drug.

    Now, if you're not sleeping enough just because you're playing video games until 3AM or something then that's definitely something to change towards a healthy alternative.

    Coffee's kind of a miracle drug though

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    edited February 2015
    Khavall wrote: »
    So you're saying that the coffee is affecting you with the withdrawl symptoms but... are there any other problems?

    I mean if you want to stop drinking coffee as a general thing that's fine, but like... coffee's kind of amazing. It really does help attentiveness, it helps your metabolism, and the best part is that it doesn't really have any negative side-effects. For how dependent people can get on coffee, really the only negative effects are some mild withdrawl headaches for a day or two, and obviously no longer having the positive effects. Like it's a super, super mild withdrawl compared to any other drug.

    Now, if you're not sleeping enough just because you're playing video games until 3AM or something then that's definitely something to change towards a healthy alternative.

    Coffee's kind of a miracle drug though

    While I love coffee and agree it has a lot of benefits, bolded is just plain wrong.

    The typical withdraw pattern for someone with a caffeine dependence is about 14 days, with day 1-3 being mild headaches and day 4-9 day being nearly non-functional hangover-like symptoms (photo-sensitivity, nausea, dizziness, irritability, debilitating migraines, etc.) before the issues tend to wear off. If you only drink a cup (8 oz) a day, your symptoms are likely not terrible. For someone who drinks 1-3 coffees actually poured by most coffee stores you are typically looking at the 14 day issue with cold turkey.

    Typically the best plan is gradual reduction with small amounts of caffeine taken during the worst symptoms as needed until your body is down to drinking almost no coffee a day, and then cut entirely. That usually is a 1-2 month window.

    Enc on
  • KhavallKhavall British ColumbiaRegistered User regular
    Enc wrote: »
    Khavall wrote: »
    So you're saying that the coffee is affecting you with the withdrawl symptoms but... are there any other problems?

    I mean if you want to stop drinking coffee as a general thing that's fine, but like... coffee's kind of amazing. It really does help attentiveness, it helps your metabolism, and the best part is that it doesn't really have any negative side-effects. For how dependent people can get on coffee, really the only negative effects are some mild withdrawl headaches for a day or two, and obviously no longer having the positive effects. Like it's a super, super mild withdrawl compared to any other drug.

    Now, if you're not sleeping enough just because you're playing video games until 3AM or something then that's definitely something to change towards a healthy alternative.

    Coffee's kind of a miracle drug though

    While I love coffee and agree it has a lot of benefits, bolded is just plain wrong.

    The typical withdraw pattern for someone with a caffeine dependence is about 14 days, with days 1-3 being mild headaches and 4-9 days being nearly non-functional hangover-like symptoms (photo-sensitivity, nausea, dizziness, irritability, debilitating migraines, etc.) before the issues tend to wear off. If you only drink a cup (8 oz) a day, your symptoms are likely not terrible. For someone who drinks 1-3 coffees actually poured by most coffee stores you are typically looking at the 14 day issue with cold turkey.

    Typically the best plan is gradual reduction with small amounts of caffeine taken during the worst symptoms as needed until your body is down to drinking almost no coffee a day, and then cut entirely. That usually is a 1-2 month window.

    Where are you getting the "typical" withdrawal pattern from?

    Judging from an (admittedly) short googling of caffeine and coffee withdrawal, I'm seeing numbers ranging from what you're saying to "About 50% experience any symptoms whatsoever" to "Can last as little as 2 days with mild headaches". Nothing I saw said that typical withdrawal was 14 days of debilitating hangover.

    I mean I know personally I've had times where I suddenly can't or just don't have coffee for weeks on end, or heck, just forgot to stock up and have been out at home for a week or two and the only proble I have is that I'm a little slower waking up. And I drink somewhere in the vicinity of a metric fuckton of coffee per day.

    Obviously if you have horrible hangover symptoms then, like, ok, yeah, maybe don't just try to cold-turkey, but I haven't seen anything that suggests that a typical response to suddenly cold-turkey quitting all caffeine is that severe

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Google search "Caffine Withdrawal" and you find quite a few studies within your top searches, here's one:

    http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press_releases/2004/09_29_04.html

    My institution did a similar one last year for a master's thesis, which ended up with the 14 day timetable with a 4-9 day peak and day 14 being the average of no symptoms reported. But if you look at the data you will find a range of dates from 3-30 depending on the study.

  • ZeitgeistHeistZeitgeistHeist Registered User regular
    Seconding the exercise suggestion. I used to work retail where I wouldn't have to be in to work until 11am, so switching to an office job with an early schedule was difficult until I started working out in the morning.

    If you already have an exercise routine, try doing it in the morning for a week or two. If you don't, but want to, this could be a good reason to start one. And if you don't, and don't want to, maybe just do something light in the mornings, like a few minutes of stretching or walking.

  • FiggyFiggy Fighter of the night man Champion of the sunRegistered User regular
    Routine. Your body will adjust its clock eventually. I went from working night and sleeping until noon every day to having to get up at 6am every day. I thought I'd never be able to adjust but eventually I did.

    Now I wake up before my alarm automatically every single.morning.

    XBL : Figment3 · SteamID : Figment
  • MulletudeMulletude Registered User regular
    Figgy wrote: »
    Routine. Your body will adjust its clock eventually. I went from working night and sleeping until noon every day to having to get up at 6am every day. I thought I'd never be able to adjust but eventually I did.

    Now I wake up before my alarm automatically every single.morning.

    This.

    Im up between 10-30 mins before my alarm every morning purely out of the constant habit. Daylight savings will mess it up a bit a couple times a year but the body adjusts.

    Just give yourself time, OP

    XBL-Dug Danger WiiU-DugDanger Steam-http://steamcommunity.com/id/DugDanger/
  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    Lots of good advice above, I will add, drink a lot of water.

    Steam! Battlenet:Wisemantobes#1508
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    if you don't want coffee, fruit juice will give you an energy boost too.

    camo_sig.png
  • L Ron HowardL Ron Howard The duck MinnesotaRegistered User regular
    Eat an apple.
    After your shower but before you leave for work.
    Will wake you right up.

  • HandgimpHandgimp R+L=J Family PhotoRegistered User regular
    Drinking cold water right after waking has always worked for me

    PwH4Ipj.jpg
  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    edited February 2015
    mts wrote: »
    if you don't want coffee, fruit juice will give you an energy boost too.

    As long as it's real fruit juice, which can get quite expensive depending on personal preference and usually isn't located in the juice isle of grocery stores.

    That isle is just the fruit flavored soda isle.

    Veevee on
  • EclecticGrooveEclecticGroove Registered User regular
    First of all I would strongly suggest you get to work before 8 and be ready to start at 8 or before. I guarantee you that someone will/has noticed you are strolling in late every day. Worse, if you are punching it at 8, then you are stealing from the company.

    Secondly, be sure that you go to bed at a consistent time every day, even the weekends and vacation. If you flip your schedule on Saturday and Sunday then you will be constantly dragging the first half of the week.

    Next, give yourself some time to wake up in the morning before work. Get up, have some breakfast that is high in protein to get you full and ready for the day and try to stick with the schedule and in a few weeks it will become normal for you.

    lastly, its got to be important for you to make this happen. If you don't care if your there on time, then no amount of advice is going to keep you from hitting the snooze button.

    Chiming in to second this. You may not think someone cares. But if the other people are there already, trust me, someone notices... and if they don't care, they won't stay that way for long.

    Don't be that guy. Show up on time, be ready to work, if you aren't, it's got a decent chance to impact your ability to stay at that job or advance.

  • CarpyCarpy Registered User regular
    I'd also recommend avoiding the snooze button entirely. Just set your alarm to whatever time you would be getting up after snooze and then getup at your first alarm, hitting snooze makes it harder to get going.

  • MorblitzMorblitz Registered User regular
    edited February 2015
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    force yourself into bed earlier

    Sorry but this is a misconception. You should only go to bed when you are tired. If you "force" it, all you do is lay awake in bed and you weaken the association between your bed and sleep. So your body becomes practiced at thinking that bed time is awake time.

    Ever been really sleepy, then as soon as you go to bed you're wide awake? That's because your body has come to associate your bed with being awake. This would be counterproductive to the OP trying to feel more rested.

    I second doing some small exercise when you wake up. Some stretches and a good breakfast might help.

    Morblitz on
    3DS Pokemon Y Friend Code: 0645 5780 8920
    Please shoot me a PM if you add me so I know to add you back.
  • MorblitzMorblitz Registered User regular
    edited February 2015
    Actually, I do recommend trying to wake up during the time in your sleep cycle that you are in the lightest stage of sleep. When we sleep, we do it in cycles that take approximately 90 minutes. It starts off light, then we go into deeper stages of sleep, then return to the lighter stages. If we wake up during the deep sleep, we feel shit and groggy, but if we wake up during a light stage of sleep, we feel fresh.

    If your wake-up time is predictable, use this site to determine when you should aim to be 'asleep': http://sleepyti.me/
    It calculates the best time for you to be asleep so that you wake up during the light stage of the sleep cycle and feel refreshed. It gives you lots of options so you can try to sync it in with the time of night where you begin to feel tired and should go to bed.

    I use this site a lot, I have it on my top bookmark bar. It is very helpful.

    Morblitz on
    3DS Pokemon Y Friend Code: 0645 5780 8920
    Please shoot me a PM if you add me so I know to add you back.
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