Really struggling with waking up / getting up

[944fan]

Do you exercise? Helps with falling asleep.

You should not use electronic devices for about 90 mins before bed. They give off blue light which tells your body its wakey wakey time.

Are you depressed? Not being able to get up in the morning can be a sign of this.

Some tips here:

https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-tools-tips/healt...

[GTIAlex]

Night owl ahaha.

If I had to write the best way to have a st nights sleeps, I'd just use your op.

Use the bedroom for sleeping and very little else.
Remove the TV and all other sources of distraction and light. Easy.

Put your phone on charge on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed when the alarms go off.

I've got two alarms when I have to get up (4am). The ones on my phone then a separate alarm clock I put on the top of the wardrobe which I have to go into the bathroom to fetch a stool to reach to turn off.



Also the fear of being late and not clocking in on time, ensures that I wake most times before my alarm.

[oldbanger]

My natural bedtime used to be 3 am - made me useless in the mornings. At points I ended up having to only sleep 1 night in 2 in order to fit study/work in. Other extended family members are nocturnal and/or manage on silly amounts of sleep (e.g. 3 hours per night) too, so there must be a genetic tendency somewhere.

I have managed to make myself more normal (it took a few years) and now even manage to work a slightly early shift!

Even 5-10 years ago when I'd managed to shift regular bedtime to before 1am, I was still short of sleep and therefore struggling to get up a 7am. Now I am usually in bed before 12 and getting up around 6:30 - I seem to need about 6 and a half hours minimum.

What worked for me was:

- no caffeine after 6pm
- lumie sunlight lamp alarm clock (actually this has been a godsend)
- vitamin D3 supplements in the morning
- turning everything off a little while before bedtime - or try the f:lux app which changes the colour tone of the screen
- notebook by bed to make a note of anything I suddenly remember
- mindfulness before bed (10 mins)
- giving up/cutting right down on alcohol (this made be very wakeful at night)
- edited to add - when all else fails, I drink a cup of valerian tea

I still get the odd night where I can't sleep and things do slip a bit at the weekend, but I have managed to embed the new habit. So - it can be done.

Edited by oldbanger on Monday 11th January 13:08

[didelydoo]

Drink a lot of water before bed- you'll then wake up early as you'll need to piss. Works for me!

[davhill]

This works for getting me to sleep.

I simply tell myself this: stay awake at all costs, you simply must not go to sleep. On no account can you doze off, you must stay alert.

It's called paradoxical intent (or intention) and is a recognised psychological therapy. The more insistent you become, the sooner you're giving out Zs.

Edited by davhill on Monday 11th January 14:06

[Henry Fiddleton]

Wake up earlier every day, and do more during the day.

Do you work out?

Getting to bed early for me is a blessing as I am usually knackered from the day (and two kids).

I usually get to sleep around 11/11:30pm, and that is only that time as its getting the kids to bed, tidying up, and the getting the washing done.

Do more during the day!

[Quickmoose]

That's good advice right there, but then the day goes too quickly...

[xjay1337]

okgo said:

Quite possibly, but how anyone thinks watching 2 hours of TV then leaving the TV on before going to sleep at 1am is the route to success regarding waking up at a sensible hour I do not know.

It's just what I have always done? No need to come into a thread asking for help with a condescding attitude. It's becoming annoying as sometimes I find myself waking up later than I want to.

Better than going to sleep at 4am and waking up at 2pm like I used to do, or when I was at school and my Mum had to literally drag me out of bed to get me ready for school or I'd pretend to have a migraine and bunk off to sleep.
Much in the way oldbanger seemed to be?

Maybe it's unrelated but sometimes at the weekends I may sleep at 1 or 2am but not wake up until 2 or 3pm, I may wake up at around 8/9 but I still feel shattered so go back to sleep.

944fan said:

Do you exercise? Helps with falling asleep.

You should not use electronic devices for about 90 mins before bed. They give off blue light which tells your body its wakey wakey time.

Are you depressed? Not being able to get up in the morning can be a sign of this.

Some tips here:

https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-tools-tips/healt...

I do not exercise in a routine, if I'm in the office at work I'll usuall walk 3 miles to Tesco and back, run around with the dogs in the evening etc, but that's about it. I'm a bit fat, not Mr Blobby levels but could do with shifting a few lbs which I understand will help.

I do suffer from depression and I'm on Citalopram but have been on-and-off for about 5 years and doesn't seem to coincide with the issues I'm facing lately.

Thanks for the link, I'll give it a good read, and the suggestions to others for some other alarms and ideas

I like the one about not being able to silence the alarm until a maths problem has been solved. This would be handy.

[Quickmoose]

xjay1337 said:

okgo said:

Quite possibly, but how anyone thinks watching 2 hours of TV then leaving the TV on before going to sleep at 1am is the route to success regarding waking up at a sensible hour I do not know.

It's just what I have always done? No need to come into a thread asking for help with a condescding attitude. It's becoming annoying as sometimes I find myself waking up later than I want to.

You know you have a 'problem' and just because you've always done it, doesn't make what you're doing 'ok'. Indeed the very fact you're on here talking about it suggests what you're doing ain't working. I didn't read it as condescending, I read as what 99% of the readers will think to themselves, ie: their opinion...
Fix the obvious stuff first, then work at other solutions.
A special night light, distant alarm with cryptic puzzle 'off' routine and going for a jog each evening doesn't mean that watching TV until your eyes and brain can't take anymore is healthy... come on, you may have always done this, but you must know that it's not good for you?

[ReaderScars]

Try taking magnesium. Instead of two a day I'm taking five. Seems to be helping.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23853635

[Squirrelofwoe]

xjay1337 said:

okgo said:

Quite possibly, but how anyone thinks watching 2 hours of TV then leaving the TV on before going to sleep at 1am is the route to success regarding waking up at a sensible hour I do not know.

It's just what I have always done?

Better than going to sleep at 4am and waking up at 2pm like I used to do, or when I was at school and my Mum had to literally drag me out of bed to get me ready for school or I'd pretend to have a migraine and bunk off to sleep.
Much in the way oldbanger seemed to be?

The problem there is the "it's what I've always done". The human body is a creature of habit over these kind of things, you are continuing to do it as you think it's the only way you can sleep when in fact continuing to do it is just reinforcing the habit meaning your body becomes further set in the routine of 'I do not go to sleep until 1am/2am'.

You need to break your body's routine for this- by trying any/all of the methods mentioned in this thread. But you absolutely must stop leaving the TV on, no electronic stuff for 30/60mins (maybe longer) before bed.

It will of course be difficult at first, as is breaking any habit. But what you are aiming for is to shift your body's routine to one where it goes to sleep & wakes up at sensible o'clock. Think of it as going cold turkey- your body will resist it at first but will gradually get used to the changes and will adapt.

Keeping doing what you are doing will just make it more difficult.

[xjay1337]

Ok, I think we can start by cutting out the TV. I'll ease into it I think, instead of watching 2 episodes of whatever show (house of cards currently!) I'll watch 1, will turn off the TV, if I struggle to sleep I'll maybe find an Audio book or a pod cast which can play from my phone.

Will try the maths alarm and move oneof my phones to the other table which means I'd have to actually get up (or kick the table over lol)

Quickmoose said:

You know you have a 'problem' and just because you've always done it, doesn't make what you're doing 'ok'. Indeed the very fact you're on here talking about it suggests what you're doing ain't working. I didn't read it as condescending, I read as what 99% of the readers will think to themselves, ie: their opinion...
Fix the obvious stuff first, then work at other solutions.
A special night light, distant alarm with cryptic puzzle 'off' routine and going for a jog each evening doesn't mean that watching TV until your eyes and brain can't take anymore is healthy... come on, you may have always done this, but you must know that it's not good for you?

I didn't say it was good or what was best, but it's just that I had always done it, and I meant more in regards to the mocking of the "night owl" - I have always naturally been up late at night and sleeping during the day.
My natural routine is sleep between 3 and 5am and wake up at around 2-3pm.

I am looking to change my habits to something which will allow me to hopefully sleep better and wake up more refreshed in line with the working week, which is why I am asking for help :-)

[RizzoTheRat]

Have a look for circadian rhythm alarm clock apps for your phone. They're quite a good idea, leave your phone under your pillow and it uses the sensors to track your movement and work out how deeply asleep you are. You then set a window for the alarm and if it detects you're only lightly asleep at any point in that window it wakes you up. I had a play with one and found despite sometimes waking me up half an hour early I was a lot more awake.

Long term using a phone app isn't ideal as you don't want to be charging it under the pillow, but it's a cheap way to check if that approach works for you before splashing out on a proper clock to do it.

[Quickmoose]

Is your job flexible?

[Soov535]

Milky hot drink before bed.
No phones etc
Make the room dark
Go to bed at 10pm

[okgo]

How old are you?

[xjay1337]

I am 24.

Quickmoose said:

Is your job flexible?

My job is fixed, location flexible. I work from home 3-4 days a week.
I work in IT doing support and consultancy, so between 9 and 5:30, standard hours so to speak.
I do on call but it's rare to get called out past 9pm .

RizzoTheRat said:

Have a look for circadian rhythm alarm clock apps for your phone. They're quite a good idea, leave your phone under your pillow and it uses the sensors to track your movement and work out how deeply asleep you are. You then set a window for the alarm and if it detects you're only lightly asleep at any point in that window it wakes you up. I had a play with one and found despite sometimes waking me up half an hour early I was a lot more awake.

Long term using a phone app isn't ideal as you don't want to be charging it under the pillow, but it's a cheap way to check if that approach works for you before splashing out on a proper clock to do it.

I've tried apps like that before, and they also record your sleep. Never had much success and I'd often end up muffling my phone with the pillow lol

[BoRED S2upid]

Have a child you can borrow little BS2 he will sort you out in a feew days. Without fail at 7am I hear him coming in closely followed by him jumping on your head.

A dog may do the same but will it do it reliably or be as lazy as you?

[maxxy5]

It could be a symptom of your depression, it makes your brain overactive during sleep, so you sleep badly and wake up tired. Maybe try different drugs/treatment? I know that some anti-depressants help the brain to 'turn off' at night (but I don't know which).

The other advice in here is sensible, try getting up at the same time everyday, no matter how tired you feel during the day to start with. Stick with only one alarm time, (you could set more than one alarm at that time) and focus on it. Later and later alarms are probably just an excuse for your semi-sleeping brain to ignore the early ones, and it also reinforces a lack of confidence in yourself, which won't help you stick to a goal.

I've tried the maths alarm apps, unfortunately I discovered I could just turn the phone off rather than doing the sums... doesn't matter where they are in the room. I quite like the idea of having to go and get a stool!

[Carrot]

Read the Watch subforum. Some of the freakishness in there will either terrify you awake or send you right to sleep.

"Wrist time"...