Having trouble getting out of bed in the morning?

[ChrisJTurner]

Read this:

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?




—But it’s nicer here…



So you were born to feel ‘nice’? Instead of doings things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?



—But we have to sleep sometime…



Agreed. But nature set a limit on that—as it did on eating and drinking. And you’re over the limit. You’ve had more than enough of that. But not of working. There you’re still below your quota. You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they’re really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

 

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[SteveO]

I get up at 4:am every morning because I FEEL the need to.

 

[ChrisJTurner]

I get up at 4:am every morning because I FEEL the need to.

Wow, pretty hardcore.

I like to try and get up at 4am too, though sometimes I struggle.
Apart from setting the alarm across the other side of the room, do you have any tips that would help.. in terms of physical not mindset.
What works for you?

 

[SlowlaneJay]

I've started setting two alarms. One, is a radio alarm tuned to a web stream of Bloomberg Radio. The second is a normal iPhone alarm.

I set the radio to go off first and five minutes later my iPhone starts up. This way, I have something intellectual to listen to for five minutes (today's headlines) before I actually have to get out of bed. When I do wake up, I'll leave the radio playing as I begin my morning routine. I find this is a great way to slowly wake up my brain and get myself out of dreamland.

I've also taken to writing out tomorrow's todo list before I go to bed. This way I know what needs doing as soon as I open my eyes, and I'm not tempted to lie in bed planning out my day, or simply saying, "I don't have much to do today, I can sleep a few more hours."

That said, some days I still oversleep. Interested to hear what others think as this is a huge step towards a more productive day.

— Off Topic —
Woohoo! Another Aurelius fan! That passage is a kick in the a$$, one of my favorites. Also love the "today you will meet with assholes" one from the beginning of Book Two. Though my favorite by far is a simple passage that isn't quoted enough:

"If it's not right, don't do it.
If it's not true, don't say it."​

That book is just fantastic. I've read three translations so far and keep Gregory Hays' in the bathroom for some Throne wisdom ​

 

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[ChrisJTurner]

I've also taken to writing out tomorrow's todo list before I go to bed. This way I know what needs doing as soon as I open my eyes, and I'm not tempted to lie in bed planning out my day, or simply saying, "I don't have much to do today, I can sleep a few more hours."

That said, some days I still oversleep. Interested to hear what others think as this is a huge step towards a more productive day.

— Off Topic —
Woohoo! Another Aurelius fan! That passage is a kick in the a$$, one of my favorites. Also love the "today you will meet with assholes" one from the beginning of Book Two. Though my favorite by far is a simple passage that isn't quoted enough:

"If it's not right, don't do it.
If it's not true, don't say it."​

That book is just fantastic. I've read three translations so far and keep Gregory Hays' in the bathroom for some Throne wisdom ​

I normally write out my to-do list in the morning.
Though, I'll try writing them in the evening instead. Great tip! I'll start tonight.

Yes, I am a huge Aerelius fan but I am very young in my stoic journey.

I am trying to apply the learned principles everyday, though, I am not perfect yet.
Only just today on this forum, I failed in my by being reactive, though, I apologised for my action.
Everyday is a school day.

Meditations is by far, my favorite book.
I've got the "Penguin Classics" version but I haven't got Gregory Hays' version, I will check it out.

 

[Gsuz]

Is it possible that you're having trouble going to bed in the evening which then leads to trouble with getting up?`

Just asking because that's a major factor for me, I keep doing things, reading, talking on Skype and next morning I'm F*cked.

Great article (that I should finally follow) by James Clear here: http://jamesclear.com/better-sleep

 

[BaraQueenbee]

Tips:

- Sleep with curtains open (so daylight comes in)
- Set an alarm that works, not one that scares the shit out of you
- Set another alarm other side of room if needed
- Brush teeth, or water in your face. Something that tells your body: Yes, youre REALLY awakening now
- Miracle morning maybe

I think important is, the sleeping routine the night before.....

 

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[danoodle]

Is it possible that you're having trouble going to bed in the evening which then leads to trouble with getting up?`

Just asking because that's a major factor for me, I keep doing things, reading, talking on Skype and next morning I'm F*cked.

Great article (that I should finally follow) by James Clear here: http://jamesclear.com/better-sleep

To piggyback off trouble going to bed, I highly recommend blue light filters for your computer, tablet, and phone for the evening and especially if you are on them right before bed. Read up on some studies, but I use flux for my laptop and an app I think just called blue light filter for my phone.

 

[JAJT]

Read Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

It's one of the few books I've used a highlighter on, have opened and re-read my highlighted parts multiple times, and is one of the most motivating books I've read to date. I can literally say it's one of the few books that has "changed my life".

For my entire life I've been the impossible one to wake up. I "don't do" mornings. You know all those horror stories from people who talk about how bad they are at mornings? Yeah, they all apply to me. Sleep through alarms, turn them off in my sleep, kids could jump on me like a trampoline while I slept, 45 minutes to put my feet on the ground, body aches, lack of motivation, etc...

After that book, which got a lot of great reviews on this forum a while back, something "clicked" with me. And I gave it a try. 5am. Every morning.

The first few mornings were rough and very hit or miss. One day I'd fight and push and actually wake up at 5. The next 3 days I couldn't do it. Then another victory followed by 2 weeks of failure. Then I'd get 2 days in a row, then 3, and the failures started happening less. I'd say it took me 2-3 months of on-again, off-again trying to finally find a grove that worked for me and to get into the habit of doing it every day.

Now I wake up at 5am every weekday. I turn off my alarm, go downstairs, brew coffee, read the major headlines of the day, grab a book and sit down with my coffee and read - something I just couldn't bring myself to do before. I can now plan my day ahead as well - another thing that never previously got done. My productivity jumped tremendously. My mood jump tremendously. And my mornings went from things I dread to things I look forward to. I now wake my wife up (the 'morning person' of the family) and if the kids wake up early (a previously dreadful thought) I greet them with a smile and a hug instead of grunts and nagging them to "go back to bed!!!!!!"

It also means I'm more mindful of getting to bed on time and in a proper state. I don't stay up late or drink coffee/beer/tea or eat too late in the evening or it will mess up my morning noticeably.

Since implementing this new morning routine I've somehow managed to apply better habits in many other areas of my life:

- I go to the gym regularly
- My diet is 100x better than before
- I've limited drinking to a small fraction of what I used to
- I've started journaling and implemented regular goal reviews
- My business focus has increased
- My house is cleaner and more organized
- I'm a better all-round person.

Early mornings have been the linchpin to my life this year. I feel like I was spinning my wheels before and now it feels like I've cracked the code to getting my shit together. That mental fog is lifting more and more each day and I'm seeing things clearer than ever.

(Of course you can do all this without that book - but it did set things in motion in a big way for me).

 

[Kreedos Phoenix]

Go to bed excited, wake up excited.

Coming from a place of creativity, I go to bed with a high sense of enthusiasm; anticipating the events of the next day.

I map out my days the night before so there's structure and no mystery to whats supposed to happen next.

Its a great way to take control and really reinforces accountability and ownership.

5am workouts when everyone else is still sleep hitting their snooze buttons are legendary

Best wishes
-Freed

 

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[LibertyForMe]

@Hong King Kong

 

[jrd290]

Wow, pretty hardcore.

I like to try and get up at 4am too, though sometimes I struggle.
Apart from setting the alarm across the other side of the room, do you have any tips that would help.. in terms of physical not mindset.
What works for you?

Try the Sleep Cycle app. You may have heard of it already. In case you haven't, the idea is that it wakes you up when you're in your lightest phase of sleep, so you wake feeling more refreshed.

I used to struggle to get out of bed in the morning at all, now I get up around 5 AM because of this app. Unless I'm exhausted, I find it almost impossible to sleep once I've switched the alarm off. After I've switched it off I browse Facebook/Tinder/Fastlane Forum for 5 minutes to get some light and ensure that my eyes remain open.

Having a responsibility; a place you need to be, even if no one's depending on you to be there like the gym, was useful for me. Having a commitment to someone else would probably be even more effective.

 

[wilddog]

Since implementing this new morning routine I've somehow managed to apply better habits in many other areas of my life:

Waking up early is definitely a Keystone Habit. It permeates into other parts of your life.

I wanted a more regimented workout routine. But from waking up at 5:30am for work to putting the kids to bed, the night time was my only option and I was always WIPED by then.
Then I read miracle morning. Started waking up at 4:00am to workout.
It was brutally difficult at first. But I finally got a groove.
It's permeated throughout my life. Now I meditate, do affirmations, plan my day. And just feel more efficient.
And on mornings I workout, I feel like I'm on fire the rest of the day. Shit just gets DONE.

 

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[Clayton]

One little cheat I use to drink a big glass of water before bed so that I have to pee in the morning. Helps me.

 

[brewster]

They say deadlines make the world go 'round...

And that's exactly what has worked best for me: Giving myself a deadline every morning.

How so?

I awake to a song on the Sleep Cycle app.

In addition, I've made an unbreakable agreement with myself. Once the song ends, I have to get up no matter what.

It works especially well on those mornings where I just want to fall back to sleep.

Nope.

Song ends = Get your a$$ out of bed

 

[JAJT]

One little cheat I use to drink a big glass of water before bed so that I have to pee in the morning. Helps me.

When I was starting to wake up in the morning I did a number of things:

- Set my alarm to a 'gradual' alarm. Something that starts soft and eases into a louder but still pretty mellow alarm. It's enough to wake me up gently and get my attention without scaring the shit out of me like a fire alarm going off.
- Put my phone (alarm) across the room so I had to walk to it.
- Put a glass of water by my phone so I'd turn the alarm off and down the glass of water.
- Had my housecoat next to the water so I could clothe myself immediately

So between a gentle alarm, walking across the room and drinking, and dressing It was ridiculous to go back to bed.

 

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[BellaPippin]

One little cheat I use to drink a big glass of water before bed so that I have to pee in the morning. Helps me.

I try to do that but I can't go past 3AM that way. Then I fall back asleep and the next time I wake up I'm everything but refreshed.

 

[Digamma]

People, it's not ancient Rome. Just put your phone on a chair a couple of steps from the bed.
Your sleep cycle and all that blah blah will adjust in a week. Just keep waking up at the same time.

If you get up, walk to the alarm, turn it off, and then go back to bed, then you are beyond help, sorry.

Overthinking habits is a form of procrastination.

 

[Vincent_Vega]

5am workouts when everyone else is still sleep hitting their snooze buttons are legendary

I love how empty the gyms are around that time. No waiting for machines, no distractions and you're instantly in a perfect state for the day.

 

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[marklov]

Bright light therapy can solve this problem.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

To piggyback off trouble going to bed, I highly recommend blue light filters for your computer, tablet, and phone for the evening and especially if you are on them right before bed. Read up on some studies, but I use flux for my laptop

+1

https://justgetflux.com/

It works.

 

[SteveO]

Wow, pretty hardcore.

I like to try and get up at 4am too, though sometimes I struggle.
Apart from setting the alarm across the other side of the room, do you have any tips that would help.. in terms of physical not mindset.
What works for you?

Everyone is different. I used to sleep in everyday. Nights are unproductive for me. There comes a time in the day that I lose the ability to act crisply. Mornings are my time for productivity. I also sleep better at night.

It is not a matter of anything other than the fact that I need to do this to make my days productive. So I make it happen.

 

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[TonyStark]

Great post++, I really enjoyed this.

 

[JAJT]

If you get up, walk to the alarm, turn it off, and then go back to bed, then you are beyond help, sorry.

Unhelpful.

I used to be like this. As I explained - I changed. Nobody who genuinely wants help is beyond help.

Not everyone is a finely tuned machine that works on "if you do this, then you'll get that". Most people required tweaking of their habits and methods to find what works for them.

 

[Madhu]

I used to be able to get up without any issue. The I hit 30 and for some reason, getting up before 7:20 is a real painful struggle and I usually feel sleepy for most of the day if I do. I don't know exactly why, as I haven't changed anything. For a long time, I used to be really annoyed about not being able to get up early like I used to. But then I just accepted it. It's not like I feel like I would benefit from the extra time, so it's no big deal.

 

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[Hong King Kong]

Have you guys seen the Ruggie yet? --> http://kck.st/1R4ZcpW

Its designed to solve this problem... what do you guys think?

 

[DKNJ]

I've started setting two alarms. One, is a radio alarm tuned to a web stream of Bloomberg Radio. The second is a normal iPhone alarm.

I set the radio to go off first and five minutes later my iPhone starts up. This way, I have something intellectual to listen to for five minutes (today's headlines) before I actually have to get out of bed. When I do wake up, I'll leave the radio playing as I begin my morning routine. I find this is a great way to slowly wake up my brain and get myself out of dreamland.

I've also taken to writing out tomorrow's todo list before I go to bed. This way I know what needs doing as soon as I open my eyes, and I'm not tempted to lie in bed planning out my day, or simply saying, "I don't have much to do today, I can sleep a few more hours."

That said, some days I still oversleep. Interested to hear what others think as this is a huge step towards a more productive day.

— Off Topic —
Woohoo! Another Aurelius fan! That passage is a kick in the a$$, one of my favorites. Also love the "today you will meet with assholes" one from the beginning of Book Two. Though my favorite by far is a simple passage that isn't quoted enough:

"If it's not right, don't do it.
If it's not true, don't say it."​

That book is just fantastic. I've read three translations so far and keep Gregory Hays' in the bathroom for some Throne wisdom ​

I have my phone alarm set at 4:30am snooze till 4:45am and then my second alarm goes off. I snooze that till 5am. Then away from my bed I have the clock radio alarm going off at 5am with Bloomberg radio. I'll eventually shorten the alarm spread because robbing myself of a half hour of sleep doesn't make sense. Sometimes I'll do some jumping jacks or 10 burpees to get the blood flowing and wake my body up. I'll also end the shower with a cold blast to shock my nerves. I envy early morning people but I do the best I can.

 

[BrittainsWorst]

I write this from northern Australia where it is currently 0528 hrs in the morning. I haven't been up this early in years.
After scouring through this invaluable forum over the past couple of weeks I'm glad to say that this is my first step to action.
Getting out of bed early was always difficult for me as I know I'm getting up to go to 'work'...
Now I am awake and having a coffee, absorbing information from this forum to put in place actionable steps to get out of the 9-5.

Sleep cycle apparently works, I downloaded it last night and this morning was the acid test.

Thank you to all of you wonderful go-getters here, this forum is a fountain of youth.

 

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[Fenix]

Have you guys seen the Ruggie yet? --> http://kck.st/1R4ZcpW

Its designed to solve this problem... what do you guys think?

I guess I'm not one of their potential customers, because if I bought Ruggie, I'd feel to be a super moron. I'm not saying that people that'd buy it would be morons, but just that I'd think to be one if I bought it.

Why?

Because I don't understand why anyone should buy a device to help them to wake up, when you could just set as a ringtone a song on your phone... say "Eye of the Tiger", ok? Put your phone at a distance of 6 ft., and as soon as the alarm starts, do the following 3 things:

1. Squat 10 times
2. Stop the alarm
3. Start the day with the eye of the tiger and go to conquer your dreams one step at a time

Doing that, you would even save money because you wouldn't buy Reggie & being aware not to have spent money on something useless... WOW! It's a priceless sensation, isn't it, guys?

 

[Delmania]

I guess I'm not one of their potential customers, because if I bought Ruggie, I'd feel to be a super moron. I'm not saying that people that'd buy it would be morons, but just that I'd think to be one if I bought it.

Why?

Because I don't understand why anyone should buy a device to help them to wake up, when you could just set as a ringtone a song on your phone... say "Eye of the Tiger", ok? Put your phone at a distance of 6 ft., and as soon as the alarm starts, do the following 3 things:

1. Squat 10 times
2. Stop the alarm
3. Start the day with the eye of the tiger and go to conquer your dreams one step at a time

Doing that, you would even save money because you wouldn't buy Reggie & being aware not to have spent money on something useless... WOW! It's a priceless sensation, isn't it, guys?

"1. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software." - BrandomM on Dropbox.

You are simply not one in this product's target segment. For some people, this product will solve a problem and motivate them. For others, it will be a waste of time. It's use and value is determined by the individual.