[LiteraryLark]

I want to learn how to wake up earlier. I get to be a very, very, very grumpy bear in the morning if my sleep is disturbed, but I need to learn how to wake up early every day because of school and work, and I also want to have productive mornings and be that person who can "accomplish more by 8am than most people do all day". I know that if I do not learn how to wake up early, I'll fail my classes, because I tend to sleep through morning classes, and I won't be able to take on as many shifts than if I were to wake up early.

I would like the end goal wake up time to be 6am. I learned from some articles to slowly reduce the wake up time by 20 minutes every few days, and to have both rewards from getting out of bed and activities to do once I get out of bed. My usual morning routines is my first morning cigarette, a cup of coffee, some music, and some laptop time, but by the time I fully wake up, it's noon and I haven't even eaten breakfast. I'd like to be a little more productive than that.

I'd like to have a plan for things to do from when I first begin cutting back hours to a set plan for when I hit that 6am mark.

I think my first goal is to make myself breakfast. Seems stupid, but I haven't had real breakfast let alone during breakfast hours in a couple weeks. And a healthy breakfast=healthy lunch=mindful eating=weight loss. I've noticed that giving up breakfast throws off the balance of eating mindfully.

Another goal is to incorporate my bible studies and some time to read.

I'd also like to be able to wake up early enough to walk to the post office and to walk my dog.

Having some quiet cleaning time would be very much appreciated by my parents.

Those are a few goals for now. My first alarm clock is set at 9:20am, it's not too early from when I normally sleep in, but I also need to train myself to be used to an alarm clock...I tend to hate alarm clocks. I am not sure how well this will go, but I'll keep you guys updated.

[MickeyCheeky]

It seems like you have everything figured it out. I wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes, I'm sure you'll do fine

[LiteraryLark]

I set my alarm for 9:20, woke up a few minutes before 9....I felt well rested but very sleepy, so after laying in bed for a little, I got up and had my smoke and now having my cup of coffee. I'm going to try to have my breakfast at around 10-10:30. So far so good.

[MickeyCheeky]

((((LiteraryLark)))) You can do this.

[RomanSunburn]

It sounds like you have a good goal in mind and a great plan of attack! You've totally got this!

Some things that I have found help me wake up earlier is having a light box on a timer next to my bed and an alarm clock that goes off with bird sounds instead of a buzzer. I've also started taking a caffeine pill about an hour before I wake up. I started this because I used to be on a medication that would dizzy and spacey if I took it right when I woke up, so I started taking it an hour before I planned to get up. That way, I'd sleep through the dizzy/spacey part and wake up with it already in my system. Once I was put on Seroquel at night, I was having an incredibly hard time waking up in the morning, so I added the caffeine pill to my morning meds. I'm med-free right now, except I still take the caffeine pill so I can wake up for work. The pill is the same amount of caffeine as if I was having a cup of coffee.

[LiteraryLark]

Originally Posted by MickeyCheeky

((((LiteraryLark)))) You can do this.

I did have breakfast around 10am. I had scrambled eggs and an Activia. It felt good to start the day right.

[MickeyCheeky]

Good to hear!

[unaluna]

I cannot advise you on this. Not a morning person!!

[Thunder Bow]

You have an exhausting schedule. No wonder you sleep in past 6.

[RomanSunburn]

How was today, LiteraryLark?

[LiteraryLark]

Today I had a breakfast date, I had to wake up at 8:20. I felt some regret waking up earlier than I wanted, but the date was well worth it!

[LiteraryLark]

Tomorrow I am waking up at 9am. I have a client in-town at 10am.

[LiteraryLark]

I went to bed last night around 10pm and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Woke up 7:45 ish to go to the bathroom, felt like I more "rested" in bed then slept for that next hour. But even though I am yawning quite a bit, I feel much more alert.

I feel these posts are very boring for you guys to read but I've had some rewards to waking up earlier, I had my breakfast date which was an amazing reward for waking up earlier, this morning I woke up an hour before my shift which is giving me time to have a cup of coffee and wake up (normally I give myself 15 minutes to really get ready and I'm rushing and exhausted)...so I am seeing some improvements.

[RomanSunburn]

I used to use breakfast/brunch dates with my friends to encourage me to wake up early. It's a great reward for getting up and out, and plus it helps you feel awake enough to be productive the rest of the day, too!

And please don't feel like your posts are boring! If it's helping you to keep you motivated/accountable, then please keep posting!