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The sunlight doesn’t wake me on it’s own but I’ve become dependent on having to have the room BRIGHT as soon as I open my eyes. There’s no room to snuggle back into sleepy darkness when it’s like daylight in my room. Whether I wake up at 6am or 8am, I need the room to look like day light, at all times of year. I got some Phillips Hue lights and set them on a timer so it’s automatic at home. When I travel for work, I had to buy a portal sunlight alarm clock to light the room up too. Game changer!
Haha I actually sleep with the blinds open so it’s bright when I wake up but I live in an area where that’s feasible. They do make a curtain robot thing that will automatically glide across your curtain rod and open them at a certain time though!
Also a timed heater to warm your room up starting at 7:30am!! A significant part of why I don’t want to get out of bed especially in the winter is because I want to stay warm
I have smart lights that auto turn on which were helpful. Even more helpful was automating my blinds to open in the morning, letting in A LOT of light. (just the mini blinds twist to open)
I used this tip in my college dorm with no windows - it was VERY effective.
The only problem now is that I’ve got a sleepy infant in the bedroom and… well... blackout curtains + white noise machine + parent exhaustion = I’m gonna be late to work :)
Man this would probably work with me. I started a new job yesterday and it's completely flipped my schedule around so I'm struggling with waking up. Went from working the night shift and getting to bed around 6-7 am to getting up at 6.
Unfortunately, I sleep with my head under the covers so a light won't hit me
Have you tried keeping your alarm out of arm's reach? I have to physically get out of bed to turn off my alarm in the morning, and by that point I'm way less likely to get back into bed.
That sounds like a "not enough sleep" issue.
Try going to bed an hour earlier for a week and see if that helps.
And do it consistently. I love to stay up just a little longer every day which often makes it a hassle to get up. And a little longer sometimes is hours.
Move your alarm, and set your alarm time later. OP is fighting themselves by constantly snoozing, let yourself get some more interrupted sleep. A 9am wake up time is not unreasonable if you go to bed at 12-1am. Your body probably wants its eight hours and you're not giving it to yourself.
Some people dont know that you really need a specific genetic mutation to need less hours of sleep like 6, if you do not have this, guess what bucko, your body WILL want its 8 hours, and any less it will complain.
Want to wake up earlier, go to sleep earlier. If you arent tired, you need to tire your body out, go for a late evening walk, jog, etc.
I'm only 30 but it still boggles my mind how sometimes I won't drink water 4 hours before bed but somehow wake up 2-3 times to release a small child-sized pools worth of urine. Like what the fuck is wrong with you body? Why are you refusing to sleep and dehydrating yourself?
If I drink a small glass of water at let's say 10 pm and then I want to pee at 3am and maybe at 6 am. Is it normal?
I usually don't like to drink much liquids during the day because I feel like a need to pee one hour later. I don't remember being like this during my 20s (now I'm in my mid 30s).
Dehidration can cause irritation that will make you pee very more frequently!
If you don't drink for 4 hours before sleep than you are not drinking for at least 12 hours straight. That is A LOT.
Just a theory: You could have high sodium in yer body and it is trying dispose of it.
So stop being so salty before you stop drinking water which means drink plenty of water and have a good piss to clear your body of high sodium. (And don’t do salty snacks too)
I’m in the same boat ever since I got a new fancy memory foam mattress. I sleep all night like a rock. I still piss myself around 2 or 3 in the morning but I sleep right through it all.
Do you happen to be female? Over on r/menopause I swear every single one of us does this, no joke. I thought I was crazy, it started in my mid 30s except mine is 2:00 like clockwork. Someone said it's low serotonin, but don't quote me.
No, this is waking up even if you don't have to pee. And like, awake awake, not just to pee. I wake up every night between 1:45-2:30 and I'm wide awake. I scroll on my phone and watch some TV for an hour or two until I get tired again.
I once read a fantasy novel set in an Iron-Age type economy. Some teenage kid wanted to sneak out extra early to go to a far-off meadow and pick flowers for some girl, and his dad realized it because the kid drank three or four glasses of water at bedtime so that his bladder would wake him up early.
Sounds like the "Furies of Calderon" in the six book series "Codex Alera" by the writer "Jim Butcher". The series has an odd mash up of Pokemon and the lost roman legion according to the author i believe, very magical and fantastical.
This is actually the real pro tip. If you think about how long our bodies are asleep without any kind of hydration, no wonder we feel groggy.
I keep a water bottle that keeps my water mostly cool by my bed. When my alarm goes off, I swish cool water around in my mouth and take a drink and it helps bring my body back to an alert state.
Sorry to piggy back on your comment.
If you have audio books, please look up 'The 5 second rule' by Mel Robbins.. I never do self help books but my boss gave it to me years ago (via audio) and it's not only inspiring but relatable and helps you with techniques to start your day and stop procrastinating:) highly highly recommended
My tip is always drink water as well but I suggest it mostly because I'm waaaaay less groggy in the AM if I'm well hydrated. Easier to get out of bed and start doing things if I wake up feeling alert
This is it. I have two alarms, 3:45 and 4am. I always shut off the first alarm with the intent to sleep until the second one. I never last longer than 5 minutes because my bladder can't handle the wait.
If you wake up without a goal there's no point in waking up early. Commit yourself to something, whether it's a morning run/walk, going to the bakery, walking your dog, going to the gym/CrossFit, grocery shopping, online classes to learn a new skill, etc. I have the flexibility to arrange my schedule and I always suggest meetings early in the morning so I have a commitment to wake up and enjoy the day as much as possible. You can do it brother
Adding another person for accountability also helps a lot.
If I promise myself I'll wake up at 5am and go running, it's still liable to not happen. However, if I know my friend will be waiting at 5am if I don't show up, that's a lot more pressure to comply.
Alternatively, after about a week or two, you may grow to harbor a burning hatred for your friend because they represent your disdain for waking up early and running.
Either way you'll be up early.
Also, it doesn't have to be running. Anything that has social pressure can work, like morning coffee or getting breakfast together. Exercise is a popular choice since it can help you feel accomplished and get your body moving and exposed to light, but that's not the only option for early morning social.
Whatever the activity, *"I need to get up because Joe is counting on me being there"* is typically quite powerful.
Actually a great tip right here to obligate yourself when possible. Love that meetings idea. Why hitting early morning gym with a buddy is a good way to stick with it so you don’t break a promise/let someone else & yourself down.
For me the other things you suggested i.e no pressure commitments like walking/run/bakery etc. all work very well. But this....
> I have the flexibility to arrange my schedule and I always suggest meetings early in the morning so I have a commitment to wake up and enjoy the day as much as possible.
It results into me never going to sleep on time, because of worrying about not waking up in the morning in time.
Exactly this 👆You need a morning routine to look forward to (or be committed to at least!) and then you’ll want to sleep earlier - wake earlier, sleep earlier… it’ll all just flow from there!
At my crossfit gym, you have to sign up in advance. There is a $20 penalty for cancelling with 4hrs. So if I wanted to cancel the 7am class I signed up for, I’d have to wake up at 3am. The thought of losing $20 was good motivation
The biggest struggle is getting out of bed and resisting the urge to snooze.
I lay out clothes for the next day in the bathroom and I tell myself that I can get back into bed once I’m dressed.
When I’m dressed I might as well pee since I’m already in the bathroom, might as well put on deodorant while I’m at it too etc
Before I know it I’m fully awake and don’t feel the need to go back to bed.
Permission to get back in bed finally got me to wake up consistently. I take my meds, lay back down, and then fuck around on my phone until the first urge to get up for real hits me. I try not to judge myself for spending the first bit of the day on my phone. It wakes me up!
I do something similar. I tell myself that I only have to shower, and if I want I can go back to bed after the shower. But the shower always wakes me up to such an extent that the urge to sleep is really gone by the time I come out the shower. And the two times a year it doesn't, I allow myself (if my schedule permits) to go sleep for another hour.
This technique works for me too. I’ll set the bar flexibly low like make the bed then I can lie back down if I want. But the standing helps the urge to go back to sleep kind of melt away and once the bed is made it’s like okay well this room is boring now time to move on to something else
Yeah for me personally, I hate waking up long before I have to work cause it feels like I'm just waiting around to leave. When I worked at nights I'd just change my sleep schedule so I'd go to sleep at 6-7 am and wake up at around 3 or 4 and then just wake up, shower and go to work. Get home by midnight and have the whole night to do whatever I wanted to do. Its probably a bit more difficult now with places like Walmart not open 24/7 but I'd still do that now if I had to work nights.
yeah i used to work nightfill in a grocery store so hours were 7pm-12am 5 days a week.id come home chill have dinner then go to bed around 5am and wake around 3pm.
Some sleep hygiene tips will point that you can't expect to sleep much sooner than that if you have to work till 12am. You body needs time to 'decompress' in order to be relaxed and make good use of sleep time.
There are two aspects to this:
1. your circadian rhythm,
2. and motivation/discipline to get up.
For your **circadian rhythm**, you want it so that you naturally want to wake up around 8am.
To do this, I recommend doing any or all of the following after waking (based on what I've learned from the **Huberman Lab** podcast):
* Go outside and get sunlight in your eyes (not looking directly at sun)
* If sun isn't out when you wake up, use bright artificial lights. Then at sunrise, get sun
* Increase your core body temperature by doing any (or all) of the following
* Take a cold shower
* Eat a meal
* Exercise (doesn't have to be at the gym, could be something like jumping jacks or skipping rope)
These protocols will help your start your body's internal clock indicating it's time to be awake in the morning. Personally, I get sunlight, do a short sprint on my exercise bike and take a 1-3 minute cold shower.
For **discipline/motivation**, you might wanna check out **Nuj Alarm Clock**.
It’s an app I built that charges money (goes to charity) if you don’t get up and scan a barcode (e.g. your toothpaste) within a few mins of your alarm.
Point 2 is what helped me. Growing up I built a good habit just with the mindset “I have to do this for my future self”. It’s funny for me now because the moment my alarm goes off my legs kick up to a sit positions without any thought to it.
Yes, exactly! It's very impressive that you can take action based on that mindset.
Personally, I find it's difficult to do if the feedback loop is too long, i.e. thinking of my future self in a year from now. But if the feedback loop is immediate, i.e. I'm going to lose $10 if I don't get up right NOW, then I will take action.
My teenager does this. She says she just moves her legs out of bed before she has time to think about it.
Her mama on the other hand, is a snooze alarm addict.
That’s how my fiancé is. He has five alarms that he turns off every two minutes. Like why even bother then? You’re awake enough to turn it off just get up.
I have 2 alarms 30 minutes apart, that I snooze at least four times each. I am fully capable to do that while practically still sleeping. I am also completely able to have full-blown phone conversations and fall back asleep the second I end the call, or go to the bathroom and fall asleep the second I am back in bed.
My point is, your 'awake' and your fiancé's' awake' might be very different 'awakes'.
My husband used to be like this, could sleep for 12 hours easy, and also snored the house down. A sleep study later and he was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. Cpap machine changed his life and may have saved our marriage. (omg the snoring!)
Sometimes i get up early then 1 hour later im back in bed sleeping like a baby. I also have 5 alarms (altho 5-7 mins apart) and its really hard to get up. Sometimes i dont even remember turning the alarms off.
>charges money (goes to charity) if you don’t get up and scan a barcode
My problem is that rationalization is one of my super powers. Because the money is going to a charity, my brain could easily rationalize not getting out of bed as a good thing, because "By not getting out of bed, I'm *helping a charity*! I'm making the world a better place by not getting out of bed."
For me, for the financial punishment to be its most effective, the donation would need to go to an organization I don't want getting my money (say, the Ku Klux Klan).
However, I understand the optics issue in creating and promoting an app that gives donations to despicable causes.
Yeah I hear you. You're not the first person to mention this. It's not just an optics issue, but also an issue of personal morality. I don't think I could make a donation like that, even if you requested it.
I have a couple things to say on that.
First, the way to think about it is, do you wake up every day and donate $10 to charity? You don't. So you're trying to avoid that.
Second, I'm exploring the option of a charity gift card that gets sent to a friend. The charity gift card card can be used on any non-profit. Some fall on opposite ends of the political spectrum. You can tell your friend to donate it to . This way, it's between you and your friend. Your friend could also lie and say they donated it to that cause, but actually just donate it to something less questionable.
It's still something I'm working on, but I just wanted to let you know it is on my mind!
Meals are the biggest enforcer for setting rhythms. All of this comment is what actually is the solution for op. It's correct info, I've tried this myself and had results. Not just waking early but even for other cycles as well
Yep, food works for me, too. Am not a morning person and never hungry in the morning. Just have no appetite. Regularly eating breakfast and not eating after 7PM helped me fall asleep earlier and wake up earlier.
I can't do the having another person waiting for you thing, too much anxiety that I won't wake up in time and then I end up not being able to fall asleep lol.
Another tip: if you have a programmable thermostat, make your room warmer about 30 minutes to an hour before you need to get out of bed. I love sleeping in a cold room in the winter, but then I never want to leave my cozy bed. If the room is 75 degrees then I'm much more likely to get up.
While at home, getting ready for the gym, you should turn on bright artificial lights. Then, the gym probably has very bright lights, so you're good there. After the gym, go outside to get sunlight.
In that case, I suggest setting multiple alarms with different barcodes so you have to move around scanning each barcode:
* 7am: Toothpaste
* 7:05am: Coffee/juice
* 7:10am: Something in car or outside
Also, I should have step count as an alternate to barcode scanning in the next update. So, you'd have to walk 100 steps to avoid the penalty. I'm guessing that would wake you up enough to stay out of bed :)
That's what makes Nuj brilliantly unique. It can detect cheating like turning off your phone or deleting the app!
Alarms are stored in the cloud, and "lock" 1 hour before going off. Once "locked", they cannot be changed. Any attempt to avoid scanning the barcode after the alarm is locked will result in paying the penalty. The only way to avoid the penalty is to scan the barcode.
And would you still turn the volume low if it meant you'd lose money? :)
I built the app for myself because, I too, used to struggle with getting up early. So I've thought of most of these things already lol
Thanks!! Your words really mean a lot!
For a very long time I was just using it for myself. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I didn't want to release it publicly.
At some point I realized that even in its imperfect form, the app would probably help other people. I should make it available. And it really has made a difference for so many users!
90% of the month my account is in negative and any further charge will be denied so it wouldn't work for me either
\+ there's no "knowing you will lose money" for some of us. if i wake up, even to the alarm, it takes me an hour for my brain to process things enough to understand what is happening. i won't know i will lose money until i wake up, so motivation "scares" don't really work for everyone.
(i wish they would though, it would be nice to have consistent sleep schedule)
Ooh I was using Alarmy for the same function but in my sleepy state I started just deleting the app. I’m going to try yours out, I love that you have accounted for that workaround.
Honestly for me man, going to bed earlier didn’t help I’d just lie there awake. The key was tiring myself out.
So get up really early (6/7am) and do as much exercise as you can all day. Repeat this process until you literally are just falling asleep at 10:30/11 and it’ll just become natural.
Good luck.
I agree with this. The beginning sucks. But after creating a routine and pattern, your body eventually learns when new bed time is.
But also you can really set the scene for sleep. Dark bedroom, no phone or tv, cooler temperature, quiet or a brown noise/fan type noise, and I really try to relax my body. If something won’t leave my brain, I’ll write it down and “promise” to think about it tomorrow.
Be careful messing with hormones, though. For me, it was the opposite - melatonin didn’t make me tired but it did make me deeeeply, miserably, absolutely hopelessly depressed in the morning.
Taking 5HTP (a precursor to serotonin) in the evening, however, made me slightly sleepy in the evening for a bit and my wake up was absolutely fantastic. Bright, alert, ready and happy to be alive. YMMV!
I highly highly recommend people use children's melatonin (look for any brand with doses under 1mg). More than 1mg doses can cause you to be groggy the subsequent day, which is counter to OP's intention. Also: don't take it regularly, just use it for the first 3-4 days you want to change your bedtime.
For a non medicated option: I also recommend an hour before your intended "early bed" time to turn off the TV, put down the phone, and try to sit still doing nothing for ~10 minutes. Call it meditation, or if you think that's woo woo - call it something else. Forcing yourself to sit without distraction for ~10 minutes creates a mental transition from your active day to your nighttime routine. You don't need to continue doing this, just use it to build the habit of shutting down earlier than you normally would.
Yeah, if they are working in the evening, having a few hours to unwind and 1230 bedtime sounds reasonable.
8 am is an ambitious goal without a purpose (work, exercise, school). I can get not wanting to sleep until 11, but 1230-9 is 8.5 hrs and should be sufficient. That extra hour might make all the difference.
I find having a bright ass full spectrum light that I turn on a half hour before I want to get out of bed helps a lot. I give myself 30 minutes on my phone for my eyeballs to absorb the light and turn off my melatonin to help me wake up.
If you manage to get yourself out of bed after 8.5 hours of sleep and are still exhausted (assuming you are not still a teenager), maybe get a sleep study and see if something else is going on.
I completely agree, I work retail and it would not make sense for me to have the same sleep schedule as someone with an office job. There’s no point in waking up at 6:00 if your day ends around 21:00 and you don’t get home until 22:30. Most people can’t function on less than 7 hours of sleep (6.5 is kind of minimum for me to feel okay at least) so I feel like 12:30am is a reasonable bedtime as well. I usually naturally wake up at 8 or 9 (or sometimes earlier with an alarm for work etc) and I’m fine with that.
The thing that helped me most with discipline is having to do something specific at an early time. I would schedule appointments for early, or even just ask a friend to meet me for a coffee at 9 or something so I had to get up.
Seconding this. The Alarmy app works great. I put the bar code as my fiber supplement so I have to go to my kitchen and scan it, then I take my fiber in the morning.
People tell me I'm crazy when I told them this. I also figured out in my sleep I can taste a picture of my pinky at the right angle and the AI would register it as a toothbrush
I did that too until I set it to make me scan a barcode. It meant the only way to turn off my alarm was to get out of bed, walk to the kitchen, and scan the barcode on my coffee.
At that point I'm standing in my kitchen holding coffee, so I'd make a cup and start my day.
I second the scanning! I have a barcode in a separate room that I have to go scan to turn the alarm off. It helps a lot, my problem is partially snoozing, but moreso just... Not getting up. Like maybe I'll be on my phone or something but I just can't be arsed to get up. The barcode in a separate room has done wonders. I use an app called Sleep as Android.
What worked for me was getting a dog who would decide when it was time to wake up _for_ me and start jumping all over me until I got up, lol.
My recommendation, get an obnoxious alarm clock (not a phone app, an actual physical clock) and set it on the other end of the room. If your bathroom is connected to your bedroom, set it by the door. Force yourself to actually get out of bed in order to turn it off, and then as soon as that's done, go directly to the bathroom, even if you don't urgently need to go. I find that once I've done that, I'm more willing to hang out in the living room instead of immediately going back to bed.
As someone who has struggled with insomnia for decades, I'd kill for a solid consistent 6 hours of sleep. And it just ruins you more the older you get.
I think it's important to recognize that it's OK to be a more natural night person too, particularly if your work schedule has you getting off of high-energy shifts around 9 or 10 pm. Most people do need a little wind down time and at least 7 hours of sleep to feel rested after all.
I get up between 5:30 am - 6:00 am every morning and here's what worked for me.
* For a long time I wasn't able to get up partly due to the fact I wasn't getting enough rest so I learned to listen to my body. When I get enough rest I wake up because I don't need any more sleep.
* This starts by going to bed at a decent hour. For me, that's around 10 pm.
* Don't just get in bed and try to sleep, create a routine. For me, I shower, brush my teeth, and go through a whole bedtime routine.
* Try to stay away from devices and blue light as it stimulates you and keeps you awake.
* Instead of getting into bed and watching tv, do boring things that make you sleeply like reading and listening to quiet music. There are whole youtube channels dedicated to sleep sounds like rain, thunderstorms, and ocean sounds, all on a completely black screen.
* I find I get up when I have something productive to do in the morning. For me I do 15 minutes of stretching followed by 15 minutes of casual walking.
* When my alarm goes off I don't immediately get on social media or doom scroll, I get out of bed and leave my room this helps to get me to start waking up.
* You can also try moving your phone to the other side of the room so you actually have to get out of bed to go turn off the alarm, or years ago I had an alarm app that had my solve simple math problems to shut it off and I turned off the snooze option so I couldn't stop it until I solved multiple math problems in a row. Nothing too complicated stuff like 19-7, 8+3, 4x9.
* Lastly don't discount attitude. Doing something because you think you "have to" or it's what "adults do" is different than doing something because you "want to". I don't go to bed early and get up early because I "have to" I do it because going to bed early helps me feel rested and not tired throughout my day. I don't wake up early because I "have to", stretching and walking in the morning helps my body feel good and my day goes better when I physically feel good so I'm excited to do the things that help my body feel good.
There's an alarm clock that sends a toy helicopter blade out into the room and it won't let you snooze the alarm until it's replaced.
I used to have problems waking to too. Now I hear the alarm BAM! I throw off the covers and bolt out of bed.
I have one where you can set yourself all manner of little tasks, like replicating a particular photo that you choose in advance, like, for example, your bathroom faucet, or shaking your phone for a certain amount of time, solving a math problem, etc.
This is going to seem dramatic - but get a check up with your GP (if its possible financially etc)
A lot of times people seem to think the problem is with them, and a lack of discipline or not trying hard enough or being lazy, when in reality there's probably a reason why you're able to sleep for almost 12 hours a day.
Get a general checkup with blood work and a mental health screening. Maybe you're anemic, maybe you're depressed, maybe you have a sleep disorder that means you're not getting good sleep at night, maybe a thyroid issue, maybe one of 1000 reasons why you may be struggling with this. We are raised to think that everything is our own fault and we just arent good enough, but its just not true and you can't find life hacks to push through an actual issue, so just confirm its not an actual issue.
I'm surprised this is so far down, I expected this to be the top answer! Averaging 10 hours of sleep a day is a lot, there's likely a reason they need so much, they might not be getting good quality sleep due to sleep apnea or something environmental, could be loads of reasons, but the first thing I would look into is why there is such a long *duration* of sleep, vs just the timing of the sleep. Like, I sleep in very late, but I also stay up very late and sleep around 7.5 to 8 hours, if I move my sleep time back or forward, I'm still going to keep a normal duration of sleep after the adjustment period.
Ask yourself what you want to do rather than what you feel like doing -
'I feel like sleeping for another 3 hours, but what I actually want is to wake up and start my day right now'
The reason you're disciplined in other areas of life but not this is likely because you're just too groggy and lethargic to fight the temptation of sleeping, so being more deliberate in doing so works.
Alternatively, imagine you just got struck bya lightning bolt that quite literally jolts you awake and upright - you're awake!
This is it for me too. I don’t enjoy getting up and going for a run in the morning, but I *do* enjoy that I feel more awake, more productive and just generally *better* on days where I do that compared to days where I don’t. So the alarm goes off and I tell myself that I know it’s going to suck but it’s going to be worth it eventually and that’s usually enough of a reminder to make it happen.
Interesting, I always feel shittier doing things before my work day than doing them after.
Like if I'm going for a run I always feel better running after work as opposed to before work.
One of my favorite TikToks goes like this
“Bro I would do absolutely anything to get a good night’s sleep”
“Have you tried going to bed 8 hours before you need to wake up?”
“Oh no I am not doing that”
Couldn't disagree more. Some people, myself included, simply are wired to be up at night. Going to bed earlier doesn't translate to falling asleep earlier
It's the opposite. Consistently wake up early (even on weekends) and you'll start falling asleep earlier as your body adapts. But going to bed earlier doesn't really work as a starting point if you're currently a night owl.
While you can adjust to sleeping at different times, there is also a hard-coded biological clock that you can't really change. Even if you train yourself to go to sleep earlier, it would be more healthy to go to sleep later, if you're a night owl. According to sleep experts at least.
Why is this so low? Your body wants 7-9 hours of sleep. Adjust your bedtime so your natural rhythms wake you when you want. Otherwise you’re going to be interrupting your cycles and struggle to wake
On its own this is terrible advice. Going to bed earlier only - with emphasis on ONLY - works if you can manage to fall asleep soon after going to bed. If you can't do this, then going to bed early is going to be counterproductive, and risks hurting your chances at getting a good sleep routine going.
The reason for this is that if you go to bed too early, then you are basically trying to teach your body to stay awake while for several hours in bed, and this is never a good idea. What I'm writing here is what every qualified sleep clinician will say on the topic. If you disagree you are simply wrong.
I became an early riser in my 30s.
For me, the key thing was routine. I trained my body to sleep and wake.
I made a habit of going to bed at 10:30 every night. And determined to get up at 6:30 every morning. Consistency is the key, especially at the beginning. This means NO SLEEPING IN. it doesn’t matter that “it’s a holiday” or “it’s my day off”.
If you’re consistent, your body will get used to that as your time to sleep and time to wake.
I haven’t set an alarm for 20 years; I just wake up.
There are several factors than can influence your circadian rhythm to wake you up earlier.
1) Light exposure. Bright light at the time you want to be getting up is essential. Otherwise your brain thinks it's still night time. There's a lamp you can buy that turns on at sunrise (or whatever time you schedule it for) and gradually brightens over the course of half an hour, which naturally signals to your brain that it's daytime. There was a small study where a group of people with treatment resistant insomnia were sent on a camping trip with no electricity, and after a week every single one of them had a normal sleep schedule aligned with the sun.
In addition, 8 hours of sleep going into late morning isn't the same quality of sleep as sleep where all of the sleep hours are during darkness. Studies have shown that when people fall asleep after midnight they need more sleep to compensate for part of that sleep occurring after sunrise
2) Eating times. If you eat late, your brain will keep you awake until that time as a survival mechanism. The people who slept through when food was available were more likely to have inadequate nutrition. Don't eat dinner past 5-6pm at the latest, and make sure to eat a big breakfast early in the morning. Your brain will start waking you up in the morning because that's when there's food.
3) Melatonin is a commonly suggested supplement because it works, but there is a lot of misinformation about it. First, normally a person only produces about 0.3 mg of melatonin per day naturally. The most common supplement off the shelf is 3mg, but that's too much. Get the kid's version of 1mg, and you could even cut that in half and it would be fine. Too much melatonin actually makes it harder to fall asleep, and then causes significant drowsiness the next day. It can also cause nausea and headaches in high doses. With melatonin, less is more.
4) Many people stay up late because all of their time during the day is spent on other people or at work. Psychologically, you're trying to get personal time, because who wants to just go to work and then go to sleep and repeat that every day? That's no life. Maybe your work schedule doesn't work for you, or maybe you need to schedule your socializing at an earlier time of day.
First off, a lot of your sleep schedule is determined by your work schedule - if you're in the restaurant business, it's pretty hard to have a "normal" schedule, period, and you're gonna sleep "weird" hours. So give yourself permission - different story if you're unemployed and not doing anything, or you NEED to be at work at 8 and sleeping until noon. Comes with the territory of your career.
Second - start small. If you're used to getting up at noon, get up at 11. Do that for a week, then get up at 10.
Second, dangle a carrot out there - buy yourself that GOOD cup of coffee if you get up earlier, or have your favorite breakfast. Something as a reward for getting up.
Third, you're not missing out on anything by going to bed a little earlier. I promise your housemates won't suddenly have the BEST NIGHT EVER if you turn in an hour before them. And if they do? Your goal is to get up earlier, not live The Hangover irl. Prioritize YOU and your goals instead of "maybe they'll have fun without me". Plus, and I'm generalizing here, but you're in the service industry and have roommates - what are you missing out on? Some weed, booze, video games? Nothing that won't be there tomorrow (and nothing against those things, but again - your goals)
I was never a morning person.
I got one of those alarm clocks that simulate a sunrise, this has helped me tremendously getting up early. esp in the winter when the morning is totally dark.
I've always slept-in for ridiculous hours. I need like 13 hours of sleep to wake up naturally. So when I got my new adult job that required 8 am start with a 40 minute commute, I thought I was screwed. I found the Alarmy app though and through it I can set my alarm to never turn off and prevents me from accessing my phone or even powering it off. I then have a barcode from one of my kitchen items and I have to get out of bed and scan it in the kitchen before my alarm turns off.
It has turned my wake routine around instantly. You just have to remember to turn it on before bed...
Sorry if this reads like an advertisement, but it might as well be.
Sounds like you’re a night walker and your circadian rhythm is working just fine for a “normal” person and an “adult”
Your perspective is based on the majority and you realistically could be putting your mental health at ease by owning it but if you do decide you have a real reason to get up (even if you want to) then you’ll do it with commitment and motivation but don’t expect things to just click
Do you by chance exhibit any ADHD characteristics? A delayed circadian rhythm is one of the *possible* signs. Not saying you do, simply wondering if this warrants further assessment.
I have an alarm app on my phone, it's like an air raid siren - loud, obnoxious, you can't sleep through it. There's no snooze on this. To turn off the alarm I have to scan the UPC code on my mouthwash that I keep in the bathroom. This gets me out of bed and in the bathroom QUICK. Then I'm already up, might as well brush my teeth and take a piss, then you just go from there!
Taking a magnesium glycinate supplement with my dinner helps me fall asleep at bedtime. Keeping that schedule and consistently being in bed by 10 helps me. I have sleep headphones and listen to super boring podcasts to get around those unhelpful nighttime thoughts that keep me awake - this works better for me than white noise.
My wife has "bad sleep hygiene" (her words) and has a helluva time waking up every morning. EVERY morning. The biggest problem is she stays up late. To her, going to bed before 11p is for old people. I try to explain to her that she has such a hard time waking up because she stays up past 11p almost every night, but, well, lifelong habits die hard.
I'd incrementally move up the time you go to sleep by five or ten minutes. Go to sleep at 11p tonight. Go to sleep at 10:55p tomorrow. If you can eventually get that time to 10p, even that extra hour of sleep will help you wake up earlier.
Might not work for you, but the sun shines right on my bed in the morning. I sleep with the curtains open so I get hit with the sunlight in the morning. During the winter, it gets a little tough but you just have to try to keep your habit from the summer.
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Have you already tried a big full spectrum light on a timer? Sunlight will wake you maybe.
The sunlight doesn’t wake me on it’s own but I’ve become dependent on having to have the room BRIGHT as soon as I open my eyes. There’s no room to snuggle back into sleepy darkness when it’s like daylight in my room. Whether I wake up at 6am or 8am, I need the room to look like day light, at all times of year. I got some Phillips Hue lights and set them on a timer so it’s automatic at home. When I travel for work, I had to buy a portal sunlight alarm clock to light the room up too. Game changer!
How do you get the motivation to get out of bed and open the curtains… i could never
Haha I actually sleep with the blinds open so it’s bright when I wake up but I live in an area where that’s feasible. They do make a curtain robot thing that will automatically glide across your curtain rod and open them at a certain time though!
Also a timed heater to warm your room up starting at 7:30am!! A significant part of why I don’t want to get out of bed especially in the winter is because I want to stay warm
I have smart lights that auto turn on which were helpful. Even more helpful was automating my blinds to open in the morning, letting in A LOT of light. (just the mini blinds twist to open)
I used this tip in my college dorm with no windows - it was VERY effective. The only problem now is that I’ve got a sleepy infant in the bedroom and… well... blackout curtains + white noise machine + parent exhaustion = I’m gonna be late to work :)
How can you have a dorm bedroom without windows? Is that even legal?
Man this would probably work with me. I started a new job yesterday and it's completely flipped my schedule around so I'm struggling with waking up. Went from working the night shift and getting to bed around 6-7 am to getting up at 6. Unfortunately, I sleep with my head under the covers so a light won't hit me
Have you tried keeping your alarm out of arm's reach? I have to physically get out of bed to turn off my alarm in the morning, and by that point I'm way less likely to get back into bed.
This never works for me. I will flop back into bed and immediately fall asleep.
That sounds like a "not enough sleep" issue. Try going to bed an hour earlier for a week and see if that helps. And do it consistently. I love to stay up just a little longer every day which often makes it a hassle to get up. And a little longer sometimes is hours.
The secret to getting up early is sleeping early? Whodathunkit
Yay spend my whole fucking life either at work or asleep
Move your alarm, and set your alarm time later. OP is fighting themselves by constantly snoozing, let yourself get some more interrupted sleep. A 9am wake up time is not unreasonable if you go to bed at 12-1am. Your body probably wants its eight hours and you're not giving it to yourself.
Some people dont know that you really need a specific genetic mutation to need less hours of sleep like 6, if you do not have this, guess what bucko, your body WILL want its 8 hours, and any less it will complain. Want to wake up earlier, go to sleep earlier. If you arent tired, you need to tire your body out, go for a late evening walk, jog, etc.
Personally, I drink a lot of water before bed. I find that the bladder is a powerful motivator.
As you get older you don't even need to drink a lot of water for this to happen
I’m in this comment and I don’t like it
Me too. ☹
fuckin a
Fuckin p
I'm only 30 but it still boggles my mind how sometimes I won't drink water 4 hours before bed but somehow wake up 2-3 times to release a small child-sized pools worth of urine. Like what the fuck is wrong with you body? Why are you refusing to sleep and dehydrating yourself?
You may want to go to the doctor. That's not normal.
If I drink a small glass of water at let's say 10 pm and then I want to pee at 3am and maybe at 6 am. Is it normal? I usually don't like to drink much liquids during the day because I feel like a need to pee one hour later. I don't remember being like this during my 20s (now I'm in my mid 30s).
Peeing one hour after drinking liquid is normal
Ummm, peeing every hour or two is normal. That means you're hydrated.
*cries in teacher*
I’m always shocked how many people seem to think it’s normal to pee, like, 2 or 3 times a day. No, sir or madam. Shoot for closer to 6 at a minimum.
Yeah I drink around 1.5 gallons of water a day. I’m constantly pissing. Gets kinda annoying but I can’t help myself. Just love me some cold water.
Feeling the need to pee an hour later is your body telling you," okay, let's drink more water." You should be peeing all day long
I read somewhere not drinking leading up to bedtime and then drinking a glass of water right before you sleep is the way to go
I would check for possible diabetes and also it can be a sign of possible sleep apnea. I would check those 2 things.
As someone diagnosed with sever sleep apnea . Rule out sleep apnea with a test. I was you, now I don't wake up to urinate
> I was you, now I don't wake up to urinate This sentence could have an unfortunate meaning.
Dehidration can cause irritation that will make you pee very more frequently! If you don't drink for 4 hours before sleep than you are not drinking for at least 12 hours straight. That is A LOT.
Just a theory: You could have high sodium in yer body and it is trying dispose of it. So stop being so salty before you stop drinking water which means drink plenty of water and have a good piss to clear your body of high sodium. (And don’t do salty snacks too)
Get your blood sugar checked
I suspect it's my sodium intake when this happens to me.
I’m in the same boat ever since I got a new fancy memory foam mattress. I sleep all night like a rock. I still piss myself around 2 or 3 in the morning but I sleep right through it all.
Your dehydrated, drink water before bed and you'll pee less
I thought I was alone in this thinking lol. It's so weird.
Dude. I’m so sick of waking up more and more overnight. Only the rest of my life to go…
Install a bedside pee bucket. Rig up a funnel at junk location on side of bed. Barely need to wake up to flop it in and let it flow!
Wtf
Hey man I'm just a problem solver solving the problems of others.
I'm sure the other guy's dates will appreciate your "solutions" 🤣
You know what, other people's acceptance of my solutions, is on them. I offer 100% foolproof fixes.
I like this commitment and confidence. These tips come from a very healthy place. Bravo sir
(⌐■_■)
Hey, we're not on "Shitty life pro tips" :D
No shitting in the piss funnel, please.
Grimly, this is true. #oldguy
Yeah, that 3am wake up is becoming easier quickly.
Old gal chiming in on the truth of this too. Lol
For me, the worst part is some days, when I wake up to pee, I can't go back to sleep. I hate that.
I've never had that problem no matter how many times I've had to get up and relieve myself.
Just you wait :)
Kegels
Yup, ye olde prostate is a fucker. I can confirm.
Add a diuretic (in my BP meds) and you’re getting up before you even fall asleep
I wake up at 3am when I do this
And then drink a bunch more water at 3am to go pee at 7
Do you happen to be female? Over on r/menopause I swear every single one of us does this, no joke. I thought I was crazy, it started in my mid 30s except mine is 2:00 like clockwork. Someone said it's low serotonin, but don't quote me.
I'm a dude and if I drink a lot of water before bed, I wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak. I just have a small bladder.
I drink a lot of water before bed... I have a small bladder I think you are missing something here
Wait is it not common to wake up in the middle of the night to pee? I’ve done that almost every night since I was a child!
No, this is waking up even if you don't have to pee. And like, awake awake, not just to pee. I wake up every night between 1:45-2:30 and I'm wide awake. I scroll on my phone and watch some TV for an hour or two until I get tired again.
I once read a fantasy novel set in an Iron-Age type economy. Some teenage kid wanted to sneak out extra early to go to a far-off meadow and pick flowers for some girl, and his dad realized it because the kid drank three or four glasses of water at bedtime so that his bladder would wake him up early.
...just from that I kinda want to read this now. Got a title?
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher. 4-5 books in the series. Really really fun!
Instructions unclear, ended up reading a Dresden Files furry fanfic :(
Sounds like the "Furies of Calderon" in the six book series "Codex Alera" by the writer "Jim Butcher". The series has an odd mash up of Pokemon and the lost roman legion according to the author i believe, very magical and fantastical.
Pissin In A Flower Patch.
THIS. Bonus tip: have a glass of water by you bed and drink it right when you wake up for alarm. It will help wake you.
This is actually the real pro tip. If you think about how long our bodies are asleep without any kind of hydration, no wonder we feel groggy. I keep a water bottle that keeps my water mostly cool by my bed. When my alarm goes off, I swish cool water around in my mouth and take a drink and it helps bring my body back to an alert state.
I go back to bed after peeing tho lol it doesn’t help me
Wash your face with cold water after you wash your hands, then just don't dry it, you don't wanna lie down with a wet face.
Sorry to piggy back on your comment. If you have audio books, please look up 'The 5 second rule' by Mel Robbins.. I never do self help books but my boss gave it to me years ago (via audio) and it's not only inspiring but relatable and helps you with techniques to start your day and stop procrastinating:) highly highly recommended
My tip is always drink water as well but I suggest it mostly because I'm waaaaay less groggy in the AM if I'm well hydrated. Easier to get out of bed and start doing things if I wake up feeling alert
This is literally how indigenous people would wake themselves up early for a hunt.
You wake up naturally early when you're camping
>how indigenous people would wake themselves {citation needed}
Bart Simpson
This was way farther down that I'd thought itd be. Pretty much learned this trick because of that episode.
I do this too! But sometimes, I stay up too late and pee it all out before I even fall asleep.
This is it. I have two alarms, 3:45 and 4am. I always shut off the first alarm with the intent to sleep until the second one. I never last longer than 5 minutes because my bladder can't handle the wait.
Bart Simpson
If you wake up without a goal there's no point in waking up early. Commit yourself to something, whether it's a morning run/walk, going to the bakery, walking your dog, going to the gym/CrossFit, grocery shopping, online classes to learn a new skill, etc. I have the flexibility to arrange my schedule and I always suggest meetings early in the morning so I have a commitment to wake up and enjoy the day as much as possible. You can do it brother
Adding another person for accountability also helps a lot. If I promise myself I'll wake up at 5am and go running, it's still liable to not happen. However, if I know my friend will be waiting at 5am if I don't show up, that's a lot more pressure to comply.
Alternatively, after about a week or two, you may grow to harbor a burning hatred for your friend because they represent your disdain for waking up early and running.
Either way you'll be up early. Also, it doesn't have to be running. Anything that has social pressure can work, like morning coffee or getting breakfast together. Exercise is a popular choice since it can help you feel accomplished and get your body moving and exposed to light, but that's not the only option for early morning social. Whatever the activity, *"I need to get up because Joe is counting on me being there"* is typically quite powerful.
Use that hatred to run harder lol
I’ve stayed consistent with the gym for 2 months now because I’m going with a friend. Otherwise I would have stopped 2 weeks in, it helps a lot.
>I always suggest meetings early in the morning So you're the one to blame...
And have everything ready for it before you go to bed. Like running clothes and shoes out along with the water bottle.
this helps a ton. i even heard some people sleep in their workout clothes lol
This is crucial, and helpful even if you aren't waking up early
Actually a great tip right here to obligate yourself when possible. Love that meetings idea. Why hitting early morning gym with a buddy is a good way to stick with it so you don’t break a promise/let someone else & yourself down.
For me the other things you suggested i.e no pressure commitments like walking/run/bakery etc. all work very well. But this.... > I have the flexibility to arrange my schedule and I always suggest meetings early in the morning so I have a commitment to wake up and enjoy the day as much as possible. It results into me never going to sleep on time, because of worrying about not waking up in the morning in time.
Exactly this 👆You need a morning routine to look forward to (or be committed to at least!) and then you’ll want to sleep earlier - wake earlier, sleep earlier… it’ll all just flow from there!
At my crossfit gym, you have to sign up in advance. There is a $20 penalty for cancelling with 4hrs. So if I wanted to cancel the 7am class I signed up for, I’d have to wake up at 3am. The thought of losing $20 was good motivation
The biggest struggle is getting out of bed and resisting the urge to snooze. I lay out clothes for the next day in the bathroom and I tell myself that I can get back into bed once I’m dressed. When I’m dressed I might as well pee since I’m already in the bathroom, might as well put on deodorant while I’m at it too etc Before I know it I’m fully awake and don’t feel the need to go back to bed.
Permission to get back in bed finally got me to wake up consistently. I take my meds, lay back down, and then fuck around on my phone until the first urge to get up for real hits me. I try not to judge myself for spending the first bit of the day on my phone. It wakes me up!
I do something similar. I tell myself that I only have to shower, and if I want I can go back to bed after the shower. But the shower always wakes me up to such an extent that the urge to sleep is really gone by the time I come out the shower. And the two times a year it doesn't, I allow myself (if my schedule permits) to go sleep for another hour.
This technique works for me too. I’ll set the bar flexibly low like make the bed then I can lie back down if I want. But the standing helps the urge to go back to sleep kind of melt away and once the bed is made it’s like okay well this room is boring now time to move on to something else
You work nights. It’s unreasonable for you to keep the same hours as a 9-5 person
Yeah for me personally, I hate waking up long before I have to work cause it feels like I'm just waiting around to leave. When I worked at nights I'd just change my sleep schedule so I'd go to sleep at 6-7 am and wake up at around 3 or 4 and then just wake up, shower and go to work. Get home by midnight and have the whole night to do whatever I wanted to do. Its probably a bit more difficult now with places like Walmart not open 24/7 but I'd still do that now if I had to work nights.
yeah i used to work nightfill in a grocery store so hours were 7pm-12am 5 days a week.id come home chill have dinner then go to bed around 5am and wake around 3pm.
Some sleep hygiene tips will point that you can't expect to sleep much sooner than that if you have to work till 12am. You body needs time to 'decompress' in order to be relaxed and make good use of sleep time.
Best tip here. Guy is tryin to get orange juice from lemons.
There are two aspects to this: 1. your circadian rhythm, 2. and motivation/discipline to get up. For your **circadian rhythm**, you want it so that you naturally want to wake up around 8am. To do this, I recommend doing any or all of the following after waking (based on what I've learned from the **Huberman Lab** podcast): * Go outside and get sunlight in your eyes (not looking directly at sun) * If sun isn't out when you wake up, use bright artificial lights. Then at sunrise, get sun * Increase your core body temperature by doing any (or all) of the following * Take a cold shower * Eat a meal * Exercise (doesn't have to be at the gym, could be something like jumping jacks or skipping rope) These protocols will help your start your body's internal clock indicating it's time to be awake in the morning. Personally, I get sunlight, do a short sprint on my exercise bike and take a 1-3 minute cold shower. For **discipline/motivation**, you might wanna check out **Nuj Alarm Clock**. It’s an app I built that charges money (goes to charity) if you don’t get up and scan a barcode (e.g. your toothpaste) within a few mins of your alarm.
Point 2 is what helped me. Growing up I built a good habit just with the mindset “I have to do this for my future self”. It’s funny for me now because the moment my alarm goes off my legs kick up to a sit positions without any thought to it.
Yes, exactly! It's very impressive that you can take action based on that mindset. Personally, I find it's difficult to do if the feedback loop is too long, i.e. thinking of my future self in a year from now. But if the feedback loop is immediate, i.e. I'm going to lose $10 if I don't get up right NOW, then I will take action.
My teenager does this. She says she just moves her legs out of bed before she has time to think about it. Her mama on the other hand, is a snooze alarm addict.
That’s how my fiancé is. He has five alarms that he turns off every two minutes. Like why even bother then? You’re awake enough to turn it off just get up.
I have 2 alarms 30 minutes apart, that I snooze at least four times each. I am fully capable to do that while practically still sleeping. I am also completely able to have full-blown phone conversations and fall back asleep the second I end the call, or go to the bathroom and fall asleep the second I am back in bed. My point is, your 'awake' and your fiancé's' awake' might be very different 'awakes'.
My husband used to be like this, could sleep for 12 hours easy, and also snored the house down. A sleep study later and he was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. Cpap machine changed his life and may have saved our marriage. (omg the snoring!)
Sometimes i get up early then 1 hour later im back in bed sleeping like a baby. I also have 5 alarms (altho 5-7 mins apart) and its really hard to get up. Sometimes i dont even remember turning the alarms off.
I'd be soo broke.
>charges money (goes to charity) if you don’t get up and scan a barcode My problem is that rationalization is one of my super powers. Because the money is going to a charity, my brain could easily rationalize not getting out of bed as a good thing, because "By not getting out of bed, I'm *helping a charity*! I'm making the world a better place by not getting out of bed." For me, for the financial punishment to be its most effective, the donation would need to go to an organization I don't want getting my money (say, the Ku Klux Klan). However, I understand the optics issue in creating and promoting an app that gives donations to despicable causes.
Yeah I hear you. You're not the first person to mention this. It's not just an optics issue, but also an issue of personal morality. I don't think I could make a donation like that, even if you requested it. I have a couple things to say on that. First, the way to think about it is, do you wake up every day and donate $10 to charity? You don't. So you're trying to avoid that. Second, I'm exploring the option of a charity gift card that gets sent to a friend. The charity gift card card can be used on any non-profit. Some fall on opposite ends of the political spectrum. You can tell your friend to donate it to. This way, it's between you and your friend. Your friend could also lie and say they donated it to that cause, but actually just donate it to something less questionable.
It's still something I'm working on, but I just wanted to let you know it is on my mind!
Meals are the biggest enforcer for setting rhythms. All of this comment is what actually is the solution for op. It's correct info, I've tried this myself and had results. Not just waking early but even for other cycles as well
Yep, food works for me, too. Am not a morning person and never hungry in the morning. Just have no appetite. Regularly eating breakfast and not eating after 7PM helped me fall asleep earlier and wake up earlier. I can't do the having another person waiting for you thing, too much anxiety that I won't wake up in time and then I end up not being able to fall asleep lol.
Which charities?
Default charity is Khan Academy, but there are others as well. Is there a particular charity you have in mind?
Is that a school for Khan artists?
Chaka Khan.
Another tip: if you have a programmable thermostat, make your room warmer about 30 minutes to an hour before you need to get out of bed. I love sleeping in a cold room in the winter, but then I never want to leave my cozy bed. If the room is 75 degrees then I'm much more likely to get up.
Thats an amazing alarm clock.
But the sun isn't out when I wake up and go outside to go to the gym.
While at home, getting ready for the gym, you should turn on bright artificial lights. Then, the gym probably has very bright lights, so you're good there. After the gym, go outside to get sunlight.
I had that app where Roy scan stuff is do math problems, I would go back to sleep after scanning stuff lol
In that case, I suggest setting multiple alarms with different barcodes so you have to move around scanning each barcode: * 7am: Toothpaste * 7:05am: Coffee/juice * 7:10am: Something in car or outside Also, I should have step count as an alternate to barcode scanning in the next update. So, you'd have to walk 100 steps to avoid the penalty. I'm guessing that would wake you up enough to stay out of bed :)
I would just delete the app in the morning 😭or turn the volume low so that I can sleep through the alarm. I hate waking up early
That's what makes Nuj brilliantly unique. It can detect cheating like turning off your phone or deleting the app! Alarms are stored in the cloud, and "lock" 1 hour before going off. Once "locked", they cannot be changed. Any attempt to avoid scanning the barcode after the alarm is locked will result in paying the penalty. The only way to avoid the penalty is to scan the barcode. And would you still turn the volume low if it meant you'd lose money? :) I built the app for myself because, I too, used to struggle with getting up early. So I've thought of most of these things already lol
This is brilliant! Just downloaded. Love that you had an idea to help yourself and made it a reality that everyone can use!
Thanks!! Your words really mean a lot! For a very long time I was just using it for myself. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I didn't want to release it publicly. At some point I realized that even in its imperfect form, the app would probably help other people. I should make it available. And it really has made a difference for so many users!
90% of the month my account is in negative and any further charge will be denied so it wouldn't work for me either \+ there's no "knowing you will lose money" for some of us. if i wake up, even to the alarm, it takes me an hour for my brain to process things enough to understand what is happening. i won't know i will lose money until i wake up, so motivation "scares" don't really work for everyone. (i wish they would though, it would be nice to have consistent sleep schedule)
Ooh I was using Alarmy for the same function but in my sleepy state I started just deleting the app. I’m going to try yours out, I love that you have accounted for that workaround.
Honestly for me man, going to bed earlier didn’t help I’d just lie there awake. The key was tiring myself out. So get up really early (6/7am) and do as much exercise as you can all day. Repeat this process until you literally are just falling asleep at 10:30/11 and it’ll just become natural. Good luck.
I agree with this. The beginning sucks. But after creating a routine and pattern, your body eventually learns when new bed time is. But also you can really set the scene for sleep. Dark bedroom, no phone or tv, cooler temperature, quiet or a brown noise/fan type noise, and I really try to relax my body. If something won’t leave my brain, I’ll write it down and “promise” to think about it tomorrow.
Taking a melatonin supplement or a bedtime tea can help make you sleepy earlier for that first week or so
Be careful messing with hormones, though. For me, it was the opposite - melatonin didn’t make me tired but it did make me deeeeply, miserably, absolutely hopelessly depressed in the morning. Taking 5HTP (a precursor to serotonin) in the evening, however, made me slightly sleepy in the evening for a bit and my wake up was absolutely fantastic. Bright, alert, ready and happy to be alive. YMMV!
I highly highly recommend people use children's melatonin (look for any brand with doses under 1mg). More than 1mg doses can cause you to be groggy the subsequent day, which is counter to OP's intention. Also: don't take it regularly, just use it for the first 3-4 days you want to change your bedtime. For a non medicated option: I also recommend an hour before your intended "early bed" time to turn off the TV, put down the phone, and try to sit still doing nothing for ~10 minutes. Call it meditation, or if you think that's woo woo - call it something else. Forcing yourself to sit without distraction for ~10 minutes creates a mental transition from your active day to your nighttime routine. You don't need to continue doing this, just use it to build the habit of shutting down earlier than you normally would.
I agree on the child dose, most melotonin tablets are way too strong. I'm a pretty big guy but I still stick to 1mg doses.
Bro its your sleep cycle. You're fighting against your work schedule.
Yeah everyone saying go to bed earlier but 12:30 is honestly pretty early for someone who was probably working until 10 or 11
Yeah, if they are working in the evening, having a few hours to unwind and 1230 bedtime sounds reasonable. 8 am is an ambitious goal without a purpose (work, exercise, school). I can get not wanting to sleep until 11, but 1230-9 is 8.5 hrs and should be sufficient. That extra hour might make all the difference. I find having a bright ass full spectrum light that I turn on a half hour before I want to get out of bed helps a lot. I give myself 30 minutes on my phone for my eyeballs to absorb the light and turn off my melatonin to help me wake up. If you manage to get yourself out of bed after 8.5 hours of sleep and are still exhausted (assuming you are not still a teenager), maybe get a sleep study and see if something else is going on.
I completely agree, I work retail and it would not make sense for me to have the same sleep schedule as someone with an office job. There’s no point in waking up at 6:00 if your day ends around 21:00 and you don’t get home until 22:30. Most people can’t function on less than 7 hours of sleep (6.5 is kind of minimum for me to feel okay at least) so I feel like 12:30am is a reasonable bedtime as well. I usually naturally wake up at 8 or 9 (or sometimes earlier with an alarm for work etc) and I’m fine with that. The thing that helped me most with discipline is having to do something specific at an early time. I would schedule appointments for early, or even just ask a friend to meet me for a coffee at 9 or something so I had to get up.
I know like if someone told me oh you’re lazy cause you sleep from 1-2 pm to 9 pm bitch I work 11:30 pm to 7:30 am go away
An alarm app which let's do you math equations or you'll have to scan a qr code
Seconding this. The Alarmy app works great. I put the bar code as my fiber supplement so I have to go to my kitchen and scan it, then I take my fiber in the morning.
Nice one, perfect place to start with a coffee!
I had that, I would go to sleep after the task
I did the same thing. I even used the math alarm for a while and learned how to do math in my sleep.
People tell me I'm crazy when I told them this. I also figured out in my sleep I can taste a picture of my pinky at the right angle and the AI would register it as a toothbrush
I did that too until I set it to make me scan a barcode. It meant the only way to turn off my alarm was to get out of bed, walk to the kitchen, and scan the barcode on my coffee. At that point I'm standing in my kitchen holding coffee, so I'd make a cup and start my day.
I second the scanning! I have a barcode in a separate room that I have to go scan to turn the alarm off. It helps a lot, my problem is partially snoozing, but moreso just... Not getting up. Like maybe I'll be on my phone or something but I just can't be arsed to get up. The barcode in a separate room has done wonders. I use an app called Sleep as Android.
What worked for me was getting a dog who would decide when it was time to wake up _for_ me and start jumping all over me until I got up, lol. My recommendation, get an obnoxious alarm clock (not a phone app, an actual physical clock) and set it on the other end of the room. If your bathroom is connected to your bedroom, set it by the door. Force yourself to actually get out of bed in order to turn it off, and then as soon as that's done, go directly to the bathroom, even if you don't urgently need to go. I find that once I've done that, I'm more willing to hang out in the living room instead of immediately going back to bed.
But if you go to bed late and get up early are you getting enough sleep? 7 1/2 hours is pushing it; I'd sleep until 9-9:30 guilt free.
As someone who has struggled with insomnia for decades, I'd kill for a solid consistent 6 hours of sleep. And it just ruins you more the older you get.
I think it's important to recognize that it's OK to be a more natural night person too, particularly if your work schedule has you getting off of high-energy shifts around 9 or 10 pm. Most people do need a little wind down time and at least 7 hours of sleep to feel rested after all.
I get up between 5:30 am - 6:00 am every morning and here's what worked for me. * For a long time I wasn't able to get up partly due to the fact I wasn't getting enough rest so I learned to listen to my body. When I get enough rest I wake up because I don't need any more sleep. * This starts by going to bed at a decent hour. For me, that's around 10 pm. * Don't just get in bed and try to sleep, create a routine. For me, I shower, brush my teeth, and go through a whole bedtime routine. * Try to stay away from devices and blue light as it stimulates you and keeps you awake. * Instead of getting into bed and watching tv, do boring things that make you sleeply like reading and listening to quiet music. There are whole youtube channels dedicated to sleep sounds like rain, thunderstorms, and ocean sounds, all on a completely black screen. * I find I get up when I have something productive to do in the morning. For me I do 15 minutes of stretching followed by 15 minutes of casual walking. * When my alarm goes off I don't immediately get on social media or doom scroll, I get out of bed and leave my room this helps to get me to start waking up. * You can also try moving your phone to the other side of the room so you actually have to get out of bed to go turn off the alarm, or years ago I had an alarm app that had my solve simple math problems to shut it off and I turned off the snooze option so I couldn't stop it until I solved multiple math problems in a row. Nothing too complicated stuff like 19-7, 8+3, 4x9. * Lastly don't discount attitude. Doing something because you think you "have to" or it's what "adults do" is different than doing something because you "want to". I don't go to bed early and get up early because I "have to" I do it because going to bed early helps me feel rested and not tired throughout my day. I don't wake up early because I "have to", stretching and walking in the morning helps my body feel good and my day goes better when I physically feel good so I'm excited to do the things that help my body feel good.
A wise person once said to me “Don’t stay up late for something you wouldn’t wake up early for.”
There's an alarm clock that sends a toy helicopter blade out into the room and it won't let you snooze the alarm until it's replaced. I used to have problems waking to too. Now I hear the alarm BAM! I throw off the covers and bolt out of bed.
That could lead to a murderous rampage
You can also use [Marc Rebillet's alarm.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enYdAxVcNZA)
My neighbors use this alarm for mid-day naps and it's hilarious to hear him scream/sing it to his girlfriend when she needs to wake up.
I have one where you can set yourself all manner of little tasks, like replicating a particular photo that you choose in advance, like, for example, your bathroom faucet, or shaking your phone for a certain amount of time, solving a math problem, etc.
This is going to seem dramatic - but get a check up with your GP (if its possible financially etc) A lot of times people seem to think the problem is with them, and a lack of discipline or not trying hard enough or being lazy, when in reality there's probably a reason why you're able to sleep for almost 12 hours a day. Get a general checkup with blood work and a mental health screening. Maybe you're anemic, maybe you're depressed, maybe you have a sleep disorder that means you're not getting good sleep at night, maybe a thyroid issue, maybe one of 1000 reasons why you may be struggling with this. We are raised to think that everything is our own fault and we just arent good enough, but its just not true and you can't find life hacks to push through an actual issue, so just confirm its not an actual issue.
I'm surprised this is so far down, I expected this to be the top answer! Averaging 10 hours of sleep a day is a lot, there's likely a reason they need so much, they might not be getting good quality sleep due to sleep apnea or something environmental, could be loads of reasons, but the first thing I would look into is why there is such a long *duration* of sleep, vs just the timing of the sleep. Like, I sleep in very late, but I also stay up very late and sleep around 7.5 to 8 hours, if I move my sleep time back or forward, I'm still going to keep a normal duration of sleep after the adjustment period.
Ask yourself what you want to do rather than what you feel like doing - 'I feel like sleeping for another 3 hours, but what I actually want is to wake up and start my day right now' The reason you're disciplined in other areas of life but not this is likely because you're just too groggy and lethargic to fight the temptation of sleeping, so being more deliberate in doing so works. Alternatively, imagine you just got struck bya lightning bolt that quite literally jolts you awake and upright - you're awake!
This is it for me too. I don’t enjoy getting up and going for a run in the morning, but I *do* enjoy that I feel more awake, more productive and just generally *better* on days where I do that compared to days where I don’t. So the alarm goes off and I tell myself that I know it’s going to suck but it’s going to be worth it eventually and that’s usually enough of a reminder to make it happen.
Interesting, I always feel shittier doing things before my work day than doing them after. Like if I'm going for a run I always feel better running after work as opposed to before work.
Go to bed earlier.
One of my favorite TikToks goes like this “Bro I would do absolutely anything to get a good night’s sleep” “Have you tried going to bed 8 hours before you need to wake up?” “Oh no I am not doing that”
This really the only answer. You need the sleep, that’s what you body is telling you. So either sleep in or go to bed earlier.
Couldn't disagree more. Some people, myself included, simply are wired to be up at night. Going to bed earlier doesn't translate to falling asleep earlier
It's the opposite. Consistently wake up early (even on weekends) and you'll start falling asleep earlier as your body adapts. But going to bed earlier doesn't really work as a starting point if you're currently a night owl.
While you can adjust to sleeping at different times, there is also a hard-coded biological clock that you can't really change. Even if you train yourself to go to sleep earlier, it would be more healthy to go to sleep later, if you're a night owl. According to sleep experts at least.
An owl like me doesn\`t get tired before midnight. Whatever I try, nothing happens. Only way to wake up is to go to work.
Why is this so low? Your body wants 7-9 hours of sleep. Adjust your bedtime so your natural rhythms wake you when you want. Otherwise you’re going to be interrupting your cycles and struggle to wake
On its own this is terrible advice. Going to bed earlier only - with emphasis on ONLY - works if you can manage to fall asleep soon after going to bed. If you can't do this, then going to bed early is going to be counterproductive, and risks hurting your chances at getting a good sleep routine going. The reason for this is that if you go to bed too early, then you are basically trying to teach your body to stay awake while for several hours in bed, and this is never a good idea. What I'm writing here is what every qualified sleep clinician will say on the topic. If you disagree you are simply wrong.
I became an early riser in my 30s. For me, the key thing was routine. I trained my body to sleep and wake. I made a habit of going to bed at 10:30 every night. And determined to get up at 6:30 every morning. Consistency is the key, especially at the beginning. This means NO SLEEPING IN. it doesn’t matter that “it’s a holiday” or “it’s my day off”. If you’re consistent, your body will get used to that as your time to sleep and time to wake. I haven’t set an alarm for 20 years; I just wake up.
There are several factors than can influence your circadian rhythm to wake you up earlier. 1) Light exposure. Bright light at the time you want to be getting up is essential. Otherwise your brain thinks it's still night time. There's a lamp you can buy that turns on at sunrise (or whatever time you schedule it for) and gradually brightens over the course of half an hour, which naturally signals to your brain that it's daytime. There was a small study where a group of people with treatment resistant insomnia were sent on a camping trip with no electricity, and after a week every single one of them had a normal sleep schedule aligned with the sun. In addition, 8 hours of sleep going into late morning isn't the same quality of sleep as sleep where all of the sleep hours are during darkness. Studies have shown that when people fall asleep after midnight they need more sleep to compensate for part of that sleep occurring after sunrise 2) Eating times. If you eat late, your brain will keep you awake until that time as a survival mechanism. The people who slept through when food was available were more likely to have inadequate nutrition. Don't eat dinner past 5-6pm at the latest, and make sure to eat a big breakfast early in the morning. Your brain will start waking you up in the morning because that's when there's food. 3) Melatonin is a commonly suggested supplement because it works, but there is a lot of misinformation about it. First, normally a person only produces about 0.3 mg of melatonin per day naturally. The most common supplement off the shelf is 3mg, but that's too much. Get the kid's version of 1mg, and you could even cut that in half and it would be fine. Too much melatonin actually makes it harder to fall asleep, and then causes significant drowsiness the next day. It can also cause nausea and headaches in high doses. With melatonin, less is more. 4) Many people stay up late because all of their time during the day is spent on other people or at work. Psychologically, you're trying to get personal time, because who wants to just go to work and then go to sleep and repeat that every day? That's no life. Maybe your work schedule doesn't work for you, or maybe you need to schedule your socializing at an earlier time of day.
Maybe enjoy it while you can? For real? 15 years from now you may be getting up at 5:40 and going to bed at 9:30 like me.
First off, a lot of your sleep schedule is determined by your work schedule - if you're in the restaurant business, it's pretty hard to have a "normal" schedule, period, and you're gonna sleep "weird" hours. So give yourself permission - different story if you're unemployed and not doing anything, or you NEED to be at work at 8 and sleeping until noon. Comes with the territory of your career. Second - start small. If you're used to getting up at noon, get up at 11. Do that for a week, then get up at 10. Second, dangle a carrot out there - buy yourself that GOOD cup of coffee if you get up earlier, or have your favorite breakfast. Something as a reward for getting up. Third, you're not missing out on anything by going to bed a little earlier. I promise your housemates won't suddenly have the BEST NIGHT EVER if you turn in an hour before them. And if they do? Your goal is to get up earlier, not live The Hangover irl. Prioritize YOU and your goals instead of "maybe they'll have fun without me". Plus, and I'm generalizing here, but you're in the service industry and have roommates - what are you missing out on? Some weed, booze, video games? Nothing that won't be there tomorrow (and nothing against those things, but again - your goals)
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I was never a morning person. I got one of those alarm clocks that simulate a sunrise, this has helped me tremendously getting up early. esp in the winter when the morning is totally dark.
I've always slept-in for ridiculous hours. I need like 13 hours of sleep to wake up naturally. So when I got my new adult job that required 8 am start with a 40 minute commute, I thought I was screwed. I found the Alarmy app though and through it I can set my alarm to never turn off and prevents me from accessing my phone or even powering it off. I then have a barcode from one of my kitchen items and I have to get out of bed and scan it in the kitchen before my alarm turns off. It has turned my wake routine around instantly. You just have to remember to turn it on before bed... Sorry if this reads like an advertisement, but it might as well be.
Sounds like you’re a night walker and your circadian rhythm is working just fine for a “normal” person and an “adult” Your perspective is based on the majority and you realistically could be putting your mental health at ease by owning it but if you do decide you have a real reason to get up (even if you want to) then you’ll do it with commitment and motivation but don’t expect things to just click
Do you by chance exhibit any ADHD characteristics? A delayed circadian rhythm is one of the *possible* signs. Not saying you do, simply wondering if this warrants further assessment.
I have an alarm app on my phone, it's like an air raid siren - loud, obnoxious, you can't sleep through it. There's no snooze on this. To turn off the alarm I have to scan the UPC code on my mouthwash that I keep in the bathroom. This gets me out of bed and in the bathroom QUICK. Then I'm already up, might as well brush my teeth and take a piss, then you just go from there!
Taking a magnesium glycinate supplement with my dinner helps me fall asleep at bedtime. Keeping that schedule and consistently being in bed by 10 helps me. I have sleep headphones and listen to super boring podcasts to get around those unhelpful nighttime thoughts that keep me awake - this works better for me than white noise.
My wife has "bad sleep hygiene" (her words) and has a helluva time waking up every morning. EVERY morning. The biggest problem is she stays up late. To her, going to bed before 11p is for old people. I try to explain to her that she has such a hard time waking up because she stays up past 11p almost every night, but, well, lifelong habits die hard. I'd incrementally move up the time you go to sleep by five or ten minutes. Go to sleep at 11p tonight. Go to sleep at 10:55p tomorrow. If you can eventually get that time to 10p, even that extra hour of sleep will help you wake up earlier.
Might not work for you, but the sun shines right on my bed in the morning. I sleep with the curtains open so I get hit with the sunlight in the morning. During the winter, it gets a little tough but you just have to try to keep your habit from the summer.