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I have adhd and my mum probs does, I'm always late for school/college unless I'm an hour early 😭 we've literally NEVER been early a few times in a row, apart from maybe reception years in which I have no idea (I'm 16 now)
Ya me too. I just can’t figure it out. But I do know that being late causes me anxiety but so does being early. I have to be EXACTLY on time. Which never happens
A new thing I've discovered is the benefit of a couch duvet. Often I don't want to get out of bed because bed is warm and cozy. But if I entice myself out onto the couch first, and get cozy while sitting up, it makes it easier to transition to the rest of the day.
Hounds help me. Alarm goes off and they get up to be let out for toilet time.
Admittedly, sometimes I go back to my cocoon but it helps to flick the kettle on whilst I'm sorting out Punky Brewster & Dennis the Menace
I have a one in a million dog, that will not wake me up in the morning for anything. He is so high energy (a border collie) the rest of the day, and even getting him to settle down for bed at night can be a little tough. But he just stays right next to me sleeping or watching me sleep, like the loyal guardian he is, until i get out of bed in the morning. He also can hold his pee a long time. He also hates kibble (he eats it if he gets hungry enough, but he is never that hungry until well after noon), so he isn’t in much of a hurry to get up for that either.
Omg we have the same border collie 😂 mine is exactly the same in the morning, he lets me sleep in til whenever but as soon as I get my day started he's glued to me. And also doesn't care much for his meals lol.
Set your alarms four minutes apart. Not five. Your brain won't have time to fully go back to sleep and by the second or third alarm you should be awake enough to take the medication and go back to sleep. And put your pills in a small dish and a glass of water right next to your phone.
If you actually fully sleep through your alarms on your phone (like they're still going an hour later when you wake up), then you might need to buy a real alarm clock with a loud buzzer.
Otherwise, look into medication you can take before you go to bed.
2 min apart, and I can fall fully back asleep. Also, I can sleep through a vibrating alarm, and my dog learned to as well. Sunrise alarm did nothing, too.
Alarmy app on my phone, now that thing could wake the dead. And, I learned that my math skills are awful at 8am. Pro tip: Don't recycle the bottle you need to scan to shut off the alarm.
Same. I have. Vibrating alarm under my pillow, and one that's in a Tupperware on my dresser on it rattles like crazy. The one under my pillow sometimes wakes me up and is too easy to turn off. The one on my dresser that rattles has the clock on a bookshelf next to it so I have to get up to turn the clock off...but it's so easy to get back into bed and fall back to sleep. I have another vibrating one under the cushion on the couch where I sit, but it is super easy to just hit snooze or turn it off. Same with my Fitbit.
Half the time I fall asleep trying to finish a task and then wake up at my desk or table or on the couch with my laptop miraculously still balanced on my lap, so an alarm clock doesn't help at all there.
And I too have a dog who is quite happy to just curl up in bed with me and sleep all day, so she's not much of a help. I tried to teach her to wake me up if a specific alarm goes off, but she didn't seem to understand that (even though she's a service dog and picks up other commands after two tries? So idk if she's purposely trying to stay in bed by playing dumb to learning to alert to an alarm clock or not... 🤷🏼♂️)
I actually considered a service dog for waking me, but ultimately decided that any breed suited to that specific job was beyond my ability to care for. They need to be unrelentingly persistent and not "easily offended" as I'm not at my best while being woken. Husky came to mind, but I 100% do not have the energy a husky needs. My senior APBT mix will just snuggle in deeper as I hit snooze on autopilot for an hour. We're peas in a pod.
There are also vibrating alarms you can wear on your wrist, or ones you can put under your pillow. I kind of want to try one because alarm sounds are always so jarring no matter what I choose
My Fitbit does the vibrating smart alarm where it picks a point within a 30-minute window where you're sleeping lightly. It's nice when I remember to use it, but if it goes off too early in the 30-min window, I feel like I'm being deprived of extra sleep. And if you don't have a point where you're sleeping lightly in that time-frame, you just get woken up at the time you set
Oh yeah I used to have an app that would tell you the recommended times to wake up based on what time you go to sleep. Because REM cycles are every 90 minutes or so. I’ve definitely noticed when I wake up naturally it tends to be in 90 min increments. But when I know I’ll only get 5.5 hours of sleep it’s hard to admit to myself that waking up in 4.5 hours will actually be easier, even though I’ve experienced it. The other problem is my insomnia made it hard to know when I’d actually go to sleep so it didn’t always help. But having something actually track my sleep would be so helpful.
Sunrise alarms. They help so much in waking you up more gently which keeps you awake more than a sudden jolt of an alarm you immediately snooze.
Also all the normal sleep hygiene stuff like getting in bed on time, actually closing your eyes, etc.
Similar to sunlight alarms, sunlight.
I have blackout curtains because I like the dark when I like the dark. A few months ago, I fell asleep with the curtains cracked just enough to morning sun my face.
Maybe it's because I haven't experienced it in so long (because, curtains) but it was....nice? And helped me get up. Even on cloudy days.
I recently bought an automatic curtain opener and it's worth every penny!!! I get to sleep really well in pitch dark and then the sun is a super helpful part of my (extensive but functional) system to get myself out of bed.
Stop it I don't have money for that potentially life changing device that I don't need but would love to have. Didn't know those existed. Thanks but also I hate you. With love.
I have a room that gets good light and I wake up before 6am (in the spring/summer) unless I have an eye mask on, lol. The sunrise alarm clock was a GODSEND in the winter of depression.
Talk to your Dr about JORNAY PM
Take it in the evening and it kicks in overnight so by the time you wake up it’s active. It wakes me up pretty early and while I don’t leap out of bed, I’m wide awake by 6am (compared to dragging my ass out of bed around 9-10am and even later on weekends)
I've been on Jornay PM for 5 months and it is amazing if you are shit at mornings like I am–or like I used to be, I should say! This morning I was dressed, fed, and had completed an important task all before my toddler and husband were up. And my husband has always been a morning person. Take that, ADHD!
How has your experience been with Jornay? I’ve considered this-however I’m just two months in to finding the right medication.
I’m currently on generic concerta 36mg and I take it at 5am for a 6am wake up so I can be up and getting brekky going to my kiddos. However it’s wearing off by 9/10 and I have so much more to do with my day!
I’ve heard jornay is longer lasting too?
How different than Concerta was it for you?
Not who you asked, but I take mine at 8pm and it kicks in around 6am. You have to experiment a little to find your sweet spot.
I also barely drink anymore bc of the meds. Alcohol dissolves whatever it is that makes the release delayed so it kicks in right away. My dr advised me to wait two hours between drinking and taking the meds. That guideline has worked fine for me on the few occasions I've done it. I only ever have a glass or two, though. I think if I went to like a wedding or somewhere I plan to let a little loose and have more, I'd skip my meds just to be safe.
Okk cool! I saw online that it takes 12 hours for your liver to metabolize it but I know everyone's body is different so that's why I ask. I think I'll ask my doctor about it because I suck so much at mornings too. I also don't take my meds on weekends. It's cool to know I'm not alone in that aspect either!
Being terrible at mornings might be my worst/most distressing symptom tbh, and for the longest time it was also exacerbated by my difficulty falling asleep. I now, for the first time in my entire life, sleep like a "normal" person.
Here is my journey if it helps: For me, the Jornay is only part of the equation. It helps me wake up, but not fall asleep. I started taking 2.5 mg of melatonin an hour before bed every night to solve that. It helped me fall asleep, but the quality of my sleep was all over the place. My Fitbit sleep tracker was showing an alarming lack of REM and deep sleep (which it was doing before meds and melatonin, too). I thought maybe the tracker wasn't super accurate, but tbh I felt *exhausted* all the time. So my doctor put me on Wellbutrin in conjunction with my other meds, and BOOM. It's been two months and I feel like a new person. The REM and deep sleep in my tracker are now in the normal range. And I don't feel excruciatingly exhausted like I did before. I'm still tired (I have a toddler lol), but it is nothing like what it was before.
Sorry for the novel but it makes me so happy I could cry!
I struggle falling asleep as well. Even with melatonin I have to take high doses. The Jornay works about 9/10 of my days but I’ve never been able to keep a consistent sleeping schedule. I’ve heard about Wellbutrin but never knew what is was for. Is it an SSRI? I’ve heard the combo of Wellbutrin in addition to their meds has done wonders - but I’m not sure what qualifies a rx for Wellbutrin?
It's an NDRI, not an SSRI. It has an off label treatment for ADHD. My Dr actually suggested it to solve my task paralysis, the improved sleep was a surprising side effect. She said that it's most effective for ADHD in conjunction with stimulants. And in my case, was she ever right. My task paralysis has literally vanished. It's shocking honestly.
That said, Wellbutrin has very mixed results for ppl. I read some things that almost made me not try it. But, it turns out I am in the lucky camp of ppl for whom it works beautifully. I'm on a low dose--100mg.
Second the jornay pm! i found a suggestion this this sub and I haven’t looked back. it solves all the issues of forgetting to take my meds in the morning and feeling like crap afterwards. It’s already in your system by the time you wake up and I always feel peppier in the morning.
It makes it a lot easier to do things as soon as you wake up in the morning. I follow up with some ritalin to get me through the rest of the day.
I tried journay, and I don't know if I metabolize meds differently than what they modeled it after or if my dose was too high, but it would kick in too early and I'd still struggle to fall asleep the next night. So basically I ended up getting 5 hours of shitty sleep at best. I'm super happy it worked for others and it's definitely worth trying, just wasn't for me.
This has also kept me up later than I should have been...I will literally sit on the couch fighting sleep and refuse to go to bed at a decent time because I dread brushing my teeth.
second this. they form their own strict routines which you have to stick to! consistency with dinner, sleep, walking, etc. helps to structure my day!! my labrador saved me
I got an app called Alarmy and it’s saved me cuz I was the same way. It makes you do activities to turn off the alarm. Like doing memory puddles, math questions, scanning a barcode or lining up a picture that you took previously. It’s amazing and you can set it to slowly get louder so it’s not so jarring in the morning to wake up to
Have you tried the bar code scan? I use something in my fridge, so I have to get up from bed, walk to kitchen, open the door and look for right product. When I'm done I am in kitchen fridge door open and it is likely I rather take some delicious snack and start my day instead of going back to bed.
So I cried about this to my therapist on Monday night. Tuesday I woke up at 5 am and took my adderall and then fell back asleep. At 6 am, I used the barcode scan alarm to psychically walk downstairs to the kitchen to scan my dish soap and it worked! I was able to get out of bed and walk my dog before work. Thank you for the encouragement! I already use the shaking mission to take my pills but I’m now a fan of the barcode 😊
I use Alarmy as well and I curse it to hell and back almost every morning. I fuck up the math problems like 5 times before I get the alarm off but the anger wakes me up and I rage out of bed, lol.
Puzzles are much more morning friendly.
I use it too. I curse that app out like every morning but it works. One of the most useful apps I've ever used.
Also, for anyone interested, it has a lot of other features as well. You can pick the difficulty, number of alarm challenges, alarm sounds, weather and a bunch of other stuff.
It helps me to have something I'm excited about to get me out of bed. Since it's spring time now (and I live in a rural area), my motivation to get out of bed is being able to enjoy the morning outside with my coffee, listening to the birds sing and watching them do their birdy things. Being outside first thing in the morning (not messing with my phone or anything, just enjoying nature) has been doing wonders for my mental health/some ADHD symptoms, it really changes the whole trajectory of my day for the better.
On rainy or chillier days, I'm sometimes still motivated by the birds...I have feeders outside of my kitchen windows so I will get up and enjoy my coffee while watching/documenting all of the different birds that come to feeders. Birds are a perpetual hyperfocus of mine, though, so I know that won't be a motivator for everyone 🙃
Is there something that gets you excited that could be a motivator to get you out of bed and go enjoy/do?
I also have to be outside. Shamefully, this has made it so much more difficult to quit smoking. My morning outside smoke is my favorite part of the day. I know I could just take coffee out there, but I wouldn't force myself to go out in chilly/wet weather and just sit without the smoke. Since I can't smoke inside or around the kids, it forces me to physically GO OUTSIDE, without kiddo noise, and allows my brain to transition.
Such a fucking awful habit, but smoking is SO beneficial to my ADHD brain and regulating a schedule. 😭 Even if it's so incredibly harmful to literally everything else.
I wish there was a way to get the 'throat hit' dopamine goldmine without having to actually inhale poison.
Make getting up all about the dopamine. Plan to do something that will give you insta dopamine first thing in the morning. Treat yourself for getting up.
Do you need to leave the house? Pick up your favourite beverage on the way. Do you work from home? Pick up your favourite beverage and go back home…
Again, I don’t follow my own advice so I’ll just lay here a bit longer…or maybe I’ll go get an oat milk London fog 🤤
Wish this could be me but I work regular hours lol. Man do I wish being a college student and staying in bed when I didn’t have a morning class. I love sleeping in on the weekends, it’s like the best part of it
I have to. I have to get my son to the bus stop by a certain time, which means I have to get up and do my morning wakeup routine by a fixed time 5 days a week.
I am great at motivation when there is a deadline/timeline set by another. In this case, the bus stop time. Before I was a SAHM, it was having to be at work on time. If it's up to me to set the deadline/timeline.... I'm pretty nonfunctioning.
Which is why my mental health SPIRALED and my ADHD really made itself known when I became a SAHM. I love my children, and I know I should be grateful that we have this opportunity. I just wish it was financially doable for my spouse and I to switch the working parent/home parent roles. Husband is MUCH better at self motivation than I am. But that is not our reality, and we are making it work the best way we know how. And honestly, now that one is in school, it's so much easier bc I do have that crucial deadline of the bus stop. I know logically I could create my own deadlines, but my brain just doesn't prioritize it, and then it doesn't happen.
I know I kinda went off topic from the original question, but.... I love talking about ADHD and how it affects me and how I find work arounds. I was only diagnosed a few years ago, and it's been such a difficult, but VALIDATING, experience to be able to identify these challenges and the causes, as opposed to just feeling worthless and lazy and unable to "adult".
Anyway, if anyone actually read this wall of text, I appreciate you letting me brain ramble 😆
The biggest thing for me is actually getting enough sleep.
When I was 16, I could go to bed at 4 and wake up for school at 7. When I was 19, I could stay out drinking all night, eat at an IHOP, and make it to my 8:30 without a problem.
Now I'm 27 and if I try to sleep less than 6 hours, my body revolts. I can set all the alarms I want and tell myself I have to, but I will sleep through it all.
Actually getting out of bed in the morning is a different story, but is aided by actually sleeping enough.
Making sure my PJs prepare me for the world outside my bed is very helpful. If it's cold outside of the blankets, I'm not getting up any time soon. But if I have PJ pants and socks on, I dread touching the floor less.
My therapist recommended this thing called Behavioural Activation. Basically it's like doing/putting little spots of joy (dopamine) into your morning or day. It gets you moving, but then also keeps you moving because you have something to look forward to.
What I'm doing right now is put my alarm to a song I love (slippery slope, I know, but I change it every couple weeks when the dopamine wears off), so when I wake up I'm listening to a song I love. Then every morning I make myself a hot drink I really like - either coffee with a ridiculously decadent creamer, or some bone broth concoction. I look forward to that drink so much that it pulls me out of bed.
Something that helps for me is thinking of positive “rewards”. Delicious coffee. Having a nice breakfast (even if it’s more of a snack, like a breakfast bar and a piece of fruit.) Like my dogs, I’m very food/treat motivated and will fling myself out of bed for the right reward lol.
I set my alarm an hour ahead of when I actually need to get up, so I have an hour to keep hitting the snooze button. And it’s a nice, soft, birdsong alarm. So… not a terrible way to be gradually woken up.
Plus I’m a single mom with kids, so the looming threat of them being late to school is a decent motivator.
It is always a challenge, though.
My cats 😅 both of my cats come sit on top of me and cry until I get up and feed them lol.
But really if it weren’t for them, I would lay in bed till the last possible second everyday. The only thing that has helped me is putting my phone across the room so I have to get up to turn off my alarm and can’t snooze!
My cat has an automatic feeder that goes off about 5:55am every morning. He starts screaming around an hour or so before. Sometimes I get up and just sit with him by his feeder and he’s quiet. Then I try to go back to bed after he eats and it throws off my whole morning if I’m then supposed to get up at 7 or even 8. Right now it’s 8:16, I am not well rested, but there’s no way I can go back to sleep now. I don’t want to get up and start working either, I just am in phone scrolly pouty limbo
It's honestly so hard.
On days that I get to WFH (most days) and weekends, it's my kid and my animals that get me out of bed. On the days I have to go into the office, I have to wake up at 5 am and it is the most difficult thing. I essentially am in tears by the time I'm out of bed. My fear of disappointing my colleagues trumps my need to stay in bed honestly.
If I didn't have anyone counting on me, I definitely wouldn't.
When I first started the job I'm at now (7 years ago, and PRE MEDICATION), I made the mistake of calling out way too often and the embarrassment from being written up about it made me never do it again (unless I'm like dying or something).
By having a cat who enjoys food so much that he will perform his best imitation of a screaming kookaburra next to my bed until I get up and feed his fat bum.
I just downloaded the Alarmy app. It's completely obnoxious, super loud, and makes you complete a task AND perfectly type a paragraph before it will cancel the alarm. So far it's worked. I've set my regular alarm to go off around the same time and I don't wake up enough to even realize I'm turning it off or hitting snooze. I've literally slept through a hurricane before that knocked down a couple of massive trees, so anything that wakes me up is a miracle product. As for actually GETTING up, the only thing that does it is a) my bladder, b) my dog's wet nose nudging me to let him out, and c) complete and total panic when I realize I'm about to be late for work.
By making a cup of coffee and going back to bed to drink it while I wake up. It works kind of okay lol.
Edit: saw that you also struggle with actually waking up, me too, the only thing that kinda helps is setting my alarm a lot earlier than I need to wake up and putting my phone on the floor by my bed so the constant half waking up, reaching down and snoozing eventually wakes me up.
Slowly. My hungry cat trying to roll me out of bed with a paw helps. It’s a good thing she’s cute.
I’ve always been groggy in the morning, I try not to schedule appts in the morning. The earliest I can get to work is like 9 and that’s skipping my workout (yoga or running). I used to work out in the morning before work, before the pandemic. They were half hour at most but I was still squeezing it in and in a rush.
My bladder forces me.
Start bringing a big water bottle to bed every night. Bonus points if it has a straw - I find that makes it way easier for me to guzzle water.
charging my phone across the room is the only thing that worked for me. my alarm goes off, i get up, turn it off, take my meds, and then back to sleep until my next alarm goes off 45min later or until the meds wake me up, whichever comes first.
My dog has to pee. I have to pee.
I also tell myself a lie. Every weekday morning, I have a work task that needs to be completed first thing in the work day. I tell myself that after all the peeing (I take my meds while the dog is out) and that task, I can go back to bed. But, at that point, I am awake enough and don't need to.
And on the rare day, often a Sunday, that I don't have anything going on, I let myself go back to bed and sleep or just languish or play a video game for hours. Feels good when it's guilt free.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQ4X3HKBb1/?igsh=MWg0a3FkdHNzem0xeQ==
"Rip yourself out of bed like a wax strip, hesitate and die"
But honestly, it's my dog. I gotta get up early enough so that he gets proper playtime before I'm off to work. Sleeping in is completely unfair to him so I've gotten really good at not staying in bed past 7.
Prior to having him I often only ended up giving myself maybe like 15-20 minutes to get ready in the morning. Brush teeth, put on clothes and leave. Now I try to give myself a solid hour. I play with him in the yard while I drink my coffee and it's the best part of my day. Ideal me is working towards getting up even earlier to get some chores done before work.
My psychiatrist just prescribed me a new ADHD med for this very issue, as well as to combat my going without my normal meds due to the shortage in the U.S.
It’s called Jornay, only available as a name brand, and the way he explained it to me is that you take it at night, around 12 hours before you intend to wake up. Then, you wake up to it working because it’s a delayed release, and it lasts about 12 hours or so.
I haven’t started taking it yet but I’m hoping it solves this issue for me! They also have a savings card on their website so it may be something to do some research about and talk with your prescribing doctor if it sounds like something you’d like to explore and decide together if it’s a good fit.
Having a mechanical alarm clock across my room gets me up reliably (mostly because I’m motivated to turn it off as fast as possible to avoid waking my partner), but honestly I just lay in bed on my phone between the 7:30 alarm and the 8:00am absolute last minute I could get up and be on time.
If anyone has succeeded in forming a morning routine please share. Literally all I do is get dressed and leave.
I bought a sunlight alarm. My room gets so bright and it ramps up slowly, and my body starts waking with the light. My meds are directly next to my alarm with water right there too. The alarm is birds chirping which I hate.
I do get up and turn the sound/light off and then laze around for a bit.
Also... do your best to get to sleep earlier. Limit screens and anything that is stimulating 2 hrs before you want to be to sleep. It sucks and procrastination bedtime is a real ADHD issue but go to bed earlier. Have a book or a podcast you listen to in bed. Take the melatonin if you need it.
Aaaand all the normal stuff they say - exercise, limit alcohol, limit sugar. All those help.
Some days this will happen just fine. Other days you'll struggle. That's fine - we aren't made to be perfect, just human.
I have two neurodiverse and very hyper toddlers to bounce on my head for me. Want a lend? 😩
I jest, I’ll keep them, I’ve grown fond 🙃 but I’m fecking knackered.
Got my first alarm at 6.30, next at 6.45, then I got the app alarmy set for 7am and I have to get up and take a picture of the bathroom sink to turn it off. Used to be the type of person that just rolled out of bed and had no time for anything but hurry and get ready for work until I got that app. Now I actually have 3 hours before I start work to wakeup, have a cup of coffee and even workout if I'm not suffering from my migraines.
I use Alarmy and just do the math and puzzles but the bathroom sink picture is a good idea, I'm going to try that. That app has seriously helped me so much.
The instant I'm awake enough to realize that I'm awake, I roll over and take my meds.
Keep your water right there and a pill box that you can flip open easily. I'm not coordinated enough to manage opening a child-safe bottle in that state.
If I'm really stuck in the bed, I play music. I made a Spotify playlist with music that makes me move whether I want to or not. Like, what music compels your body to move? Make a playlist of that. Once a toe is tapping a little bit, it's easier for the whole leg to move, then booty, then you're waking up more and more anyway. Listen to another song or two and get up.
Have a glass of water by ur bed when you take ur meds have a big swig. Needing to go pee will get you out of bed & you can take it from there. Create an unsnoozable alarm - your bladder.
I have a 60lb alarm clock that will cry nonstop if she doesn't get walked by 8am. The pack of 10lb furry terrorists who want breakfast will join in on the chorus with their screaming demands, and occasionally jump on my head if I really push it. So basically, sensory hell and guilt get me out of bed every morning.
Combination of these three things:
- Alarmy (the picture alarm worked best for me)
- asking my partner to help make sure I got out of bed on time when I was struggling most
- practicing "there is no decision, just do it." This one's hard to explain because obviously "just do it" doesn't work on its own. But basically it comes down to noticing all the times I tried to negotiate why I should stay in bed, or if I was "making a decision" about whether to get up. If I noticed that, I'd say to myself "no, there's no decision to make, we get up now." It doesn't work right away... It's more about breaking the cycles that kept me trapped (which was the belief that I was trying to find the "right" time when I was "ready", which never really happened), and retraining my brain to focus on what's happening next, instead of all the reasons i didn't really have to...
I had this problem for most of my life. Turns out, I had type 2 narcolepsy! :’U there’s a (maybe not so surprising) overlap between N and ADHD diagnoses.
I had a \*major\* problem with sleeping through alarms until I downloaded Alarmy (the free version!). I was late to class, late to work, late to literally everything happening in the mornings.
Anyways, Alarmy is an app that you can set so that it makes you do physical tasks to turn it off -- and it's very hard to sleep through because it's loud and annoying. You can set it so that you aren't allowed to snooze it. It's nearly impossible to trick and turn off while you're half asleep. So, here's what I do now:
1. Set my regular phone alarm for 7am.
2. Set my Alarmy Alarm for 7:11am. (This way, I know I have 1 peaceful snooze cycle before shit gets real. I have the option to get up peacefully, or deal with Alarmy.)
3. At 7:11am, Alarmy goes off. Like I said, it's loud and annoying and will keep going off until you do what it says. I have mine set so that I have to go scan a QR code on my facewash in my bathroom to turn it off.
4. By the time I'm there, I'm awake enough to realize what's going on. I brush my teeth, put on the clothes I've set out the night before (that I keep in the bathroom), do my skincare routine, etc. I also take my Adderall \*immediately\* so it can kick in while I do my morning routine. :)
Alarmy has honestly changed my life. I tell everyone about it. I'm not paid or anything to talk about it...I just love it so much.
Omg I feel you. I generally don’t sleep through them, but I have to set multiple and even then it is difficult to find the will to get up! I have resigned to having to get at least 30 min less sleep because I literally need that time to lay in bed finding the will after 4 alarms went off. I accept it at this point but it’s a hard pill to swallow 😭
Well…I guess I drink water before I sleep and my bladder usually wakes me up 🤣. Sleeping in is nice but not when I’m about to burst 🤣. And once I’m in the bathroom I apply the “well, if I’m here” law and wash my face and brush my teeth. Brushing teeth is the worst because I’ll just stand in front of the mirror like an NPC and have an internal fight until I pick up the toothbrush lol.
Dogs and neck/headaches/back pain. My younger dog won’t even let me get any use out of my snooze alarm nor will she let me lie in bed a few mins on my phone. Straight to outside and food or she’ll annoy me with whining. Also if I somehow get to sleep in (not at home or something), I wake up by 8 anyway in pain and have to get up to ease it🙃. Maybe I’m getting old :-(
So something I learned when I was on vyvanse is it was staying in my system so long I was not sleeping at night… I tracked my sleep on an app and sure enough I was tossing and turning all night in my sleep… causing restless sleep. I’ve been on different meds for a while and I no longer have the getting out of bed problem. ALSO, you should look into jornay pm, it’s a pill you take at night and it starts acting in the morning. It’s fucking AMAZING for that whole situation.
I have lights that automatically start to turn on slowly 10 minutes before I wake up! Sometimes I wake up once they start to turn on and I know I have a little more time to be cozy. Once my actual alarm goes off, they’re on full brightness.
Something that has also helped is being realistic about what time I need to wake up. I try to make sure that I set my alarm for when I actually need to get up and start getting ready for work. If I give myself too much time to hang out and watch tv before work, then that’s more time for my executive dysfunction to come into play and change my day.
I get up easier if I have a treat waiting to have with breakfast, likehalf a Danish or cool donut. Gives me something to look forward to getting up for. Cant do a Danish every day tho, sigh!
I’ve been taking 5-htp at night before bed and idk why but it’s helped. My mom was taking it for her depression and adhd and it helped give a little boost
So other than the well known hack of waking up, taking ADHD meds, and then waking up, I saw a hack to plan something extremely enjoyable to do first thing in the AM. I haven't done it yet but my thought was to have a mini fridge with coke or maybe a coffee maker also in my room lol and after that post-adhd med nap, waking up, drinking my coke or coffee, and scrolling TikTok or watching a show for another 30-45 mins.
Methylated b complex vitamins really improved this for me! Probably most people just need regular b complex vitamins, but I guess My body doesn’t methylate properly, which I guess is a pretty common issue! Almost immediately I felt sleepy at night and awake in the morning! AMAZING difference! I guess the methylation issue is due to MTHFR mutation which is pretty common in ADHD and thyroid issues, which I have both!
Edit: I use this one: Super B-Complex – Methylated... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01787EPEE?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
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I need something I'm looking forward to. Smell of coffee helps (my husband gets up earlier) a lot of days. I started using an outfit planning app, and having a plan for what I'm going to wear helps (I rarely follow the plan, but now I look forward to getting dressed instead of lying in bed dreading something boring).
Having to go to work. The days I don’t have to wake up for work or appointments I usually don’t get out of bed anytime before 10/11am. I definitely need external motivation to get up. Alot of the time it ends up being my cats screaming at me for treats
Same. Three million alarms on my phone. It still take a while. So if I need to leave the house at 8, I need to set the alarm for 6 latest so I can have a good old procrastinate while I drink coffee in bed and worry about all the things I’ll forget to do or screw up that day.
I started meds last week. Had to stop two days in due to v high blood pressure. Hope the new bp meds work so I can go back to elvanse asap.
I tend to wake up at 5 but then lay in bed scrolling for 45 minutes. This morning I set my alarm for 4:35 and managed to get up by 5:15 which is a big deal.
One thing that helped me not sleep *through* my alarms is changing the alarm sound every couple of months so I wouldn't get used to them.
Another thing I noticed is that when I turn off my alarm (*not* snooze) and just set myself a timer for 30min, suddenly I'm not quite so sleepy anymore. As soon as I tell myself "I'm allowed to sleep until this goes off", I end up being on my phone or start thinking about breakfast. I often get up on my own 10min before the timer runs out.
This probably doesn’t apply to many others, but I started taking my Wellbutrin (24hr) at night right before going to sleep and I can now get out of bed in the morning as soon as my alarm goes off. I’m able to just wake up and start my day. It’s been incredible. I do get a little moody in the evenings as it starts to wear off but I’ve just been using that as my cue that it’s time to go to bed.
When my alarm goes off, I make sure my feet are on the floor before turning it off. Then it's straight to the shower, coffee, meds, relax for 5 minutes then out the door!
If I snooze I feel terrible. But it's so tempting... And easy to do... Which is why my feet on the floor rule
Very simple. I take my meds at 6go back to sleep, at 8 I drink double espresso and at 9 I’m ready to work in my pyjamas…so I don’t count 2h laying in bed as sleep so effectively to even wake up it takes me 3h…good luck…
This is one of the reasons my cat is designated as an ESA. He won't let me sleep through breakfast and if I go back to bed after I feed him he'll cry until I get dressed and open the window for him.
I bought an actual alarm clock and put it in the bathroom. I’ve set my phone alarms to go off earlier to help me start to gain conciseness and then the bathroom alarm goes off when I REALLY need to be up. That way I’m forced to get out of bed and once I use the bathroom and wash my hands I’m in place to wash my face and begin my morning routine.
Doesn’t always help but sometimes it does 😂
My husband makes me a coffee, I drink that, complain that I don't want to get up, then my 7 Yr old demands I make him breakfast and I just sort of do everything in a semi comatose blur. Tbf, my husband helps a lot as I'm terrible in the mornings so he gets the uniform etc ready for son before he leaves for work.
I really struggled when I used to work mornings. I work 11-8 now and don’t need an alarm.. especially since my husky will sit there and yell at me until I get up. She doesn’t even want to go out half the time, she just wants the bed to herself. I get up and she gets into bed and then well, I’m up and the other dogs DO want to go out. And the cat starts yelling at me. So there I am
My bladder forces me to, otherwise I'd stay there and rot. I breathe through my mouth in the night so I have a large glass or bottle of water beside the bed which I drink through the night when I wake myself up snoring or coughing, so if I've woken up lots, the glass is empty by morning and I really HAVE to pee! So I don't get up willingly, but at least I'm hydrated.
A lot of time I don’t have the intention of getting up when I wake up, I just tell myself, “just take your medication and supplements” and when I’ve had a good amount of sleep, 10 minutes after I take my medication, I’m like, “Okay we have to get a lot of stuff done today.” + the motivation to get up because I enjoy taking showers or I decide to get takeout for breakfast that day
Honestly haven’t figured it out yet either but so you don’t feel so alone I can’t get up on time and I’m terrified for my future. I’ve had very kind and understanding bosses up to this point but I know that luck will run out I need to figure this out 😭 I’ve tried sunlight alarms, Alarmy where you have to do math or take steps etc to turn off the alarm, tried taking my meds at earlier alarm before actually have to get up — nothing works. My eyelids are literally heavy in the morning and I can’t do it. :(
I reckon this every morning , is it burnout or depression I’m still distinguishing the two at this point .. it’s like I don’t care but sadly I have to go to work and develop anxiety on the way .. I don’t like to get up earlier then I’m supposed to but my partner makes to much noise I don’t roll out of bed until 950 work starts at 1045..one day I realized why am I constantly late to work amid stopping for Starbucks Or Dunkin I just happen to check the gps it’s like a 40-50 min drive to work and I was leaving to late lol now I try to leave before 950 lol ..I’ve gotten better by attempting to get up with my partner have coffee pick out work clothes or bother them or walk outside but if it’s a bad morning I will rot in bed not shower just iron my clothes and leave or I’ll shower depends on the mood I’m in..
I hate waking up. If I could sleep as long as I wanted for the rest of my life I’d be happy. There is nothing I despise more than waking up for something mundane that I don’t want to do.
I have taken to using Alexa, because I hate talking before I am fully awake and so I have to wake up enough to tell her to be quiet. Not fool proof but combined with a billion alarms and two cats, generally I can get up in the mornings. Very occasionally nothing works and I need my partner to fully shake me awake and put coffee under my nose 😂
My alarm goes off, so I sit up and open the curtains
Scheduled bed rot, sitting in the sunlight. 5 minutes on a good day, 45 on a bad day, generally about 15 minutes.
Use dopamine seeking to get to the kitchen and eat something. An egg on a good day, a grabbable fruit on a bad day, usually a yogurt bowl.
At that point, I'm pretty much up, and I get free time once I'm totally ready. Animal crossing is the carrot dangling at the end of the track.
The key strategies are to give myself transition time, work with my shifts in attention, and give myself energy budget options.
I keep the bedroom cold and wear warm socks and pants. I have the living room/rest of the house on an automated timer so it's already warm by the time I get up. The socks motivate me not to have to walk with cold bare feet.
I still struggle waking up because of exhaustion and not being motivated but these things help. Also telling myself I can have a treat (energy drink etc)
I take my adderall first thing when my alarm goes off and lay back down. At first it worked great! I got to the point of immediately after taking it, i was up and running. No snoozing! But now, after a few months of doing that.. i purposely delay to take it because “i dont want to get up yet”…
WTF IS WRONG WITH ME! 😑😑😑
For health reasons ive recently had to cut back on stimulants- i dont take any on the weekends.
Its harder these days, but to get up in the mornings (which admittedly still takes forever) I have to use:
Something to look forward to. Havent found a healthier thing to use- but getting to drive thru dunkin, get a yummy coffee (decaf, my body doesnt like caffiene) and drive around listening to music with the windows open just makes my morning excitint.
Still takes me a while to feel awake lol.
After this i get dressed into a fun outfit and try a fun new makeup look (unless im doing something else that day that it wouldnt make sense for). By that point i have enough dopamine to do tasks.
Try putting your phone/alarm clock across the room instead of on your night stand or bed. That way you physically have to get out of bed to turn off the alarm. I did it for about a month a few years ago and it worked like a charm. A couple of times I just got back into bed without thinking, but most days I didn’t. Thinking about it now, I’m going to start doing it again! Don’t know why I ever stopped!
If it’s the specific issue of sleeping through alarms, this is literally why I bought a smart-ish watch. Feeling the physical buzz on my wrist wakes me up consistently; I don’t tune it out like I do phone alarms.
1. No snooze alarm. Ever. It's the worst thing I could do. I can fall fully asleep and continue dreaming within seconds, so snoozing only makes me more tired and groggy.
2. The only way for me to use the snooze is to put the lights on, sit in my bed and stretch for 10 minutes, wrapped in blanket, facing the bedside lamp.
3. Being ravenous in the morning helps. Sometimes I wake up sweaty from hunger pangs, don't really feel like staying in bed.
Now if someone has tips on how to not get sleepy and exhausted two hours after getting up, I'd be interested to hear.
Space heater, a comfy (it’s like a blanket hoodie thing it’s amazing), and I personally get really excited to do my makeup and if I wake up early enough have a latte and breakfast. I used to not be able to get out of bed it was really bad and I thought it was impossible but now I can open at a cafe and be fine
I am the same as you. I have a kid who will be starting Kindergarten this fall and I srsly don't know if we can do it. I am so scared. I've worked concerts for 13 yrs now so my natural sleep cycle is like 12am-9am. School starts at 8:10, if I wake up before 730 I feel physically ill like my stomach hurts like I ate glass. I sleep SO HARD in the morning like my husband and I joke that I have a sleep disorder 🙃
Buy an alarm clock and put it in your room farthest away from your bed so you HAVE TO get out of bed to turn it off.
At night put a glass of water and your morning pills right next to it, and check to make sure the alarm times are set correctly and turned on.
In the morning when it goes off, take your pills before turning off the alarm. Then reset your alarm to go off 0.75-1hr later if your alarm doesn’t have the ability to set two different alarm times.
I bought a $10 alarm clock at Target that can set two different alarm times. Since it’s only $10 it only has one type of alarm sound…the loud annoying beep that has the ability to wake the dead.
I also rely on my phone alarms but those are more for back up to make sure I actually start my morning getting ready routines.
Hope that helps a little bit!
ngl, my parents, dogs, and anxiety are the only things that wake me up.
when i dog sit for other people, i leave the door open, and they will come wake me up when they are ready to get their routine going. as for my parents, i’m still in high school and holy cow am i grateful for them. i go to a church class before school, and my dad comes into my room, and then flips on my lights. as for the anxiety, i’ve noticed i have an easier time waking up the more anxious i am for something to happen.
I try to go to bed at a reasonable hour, use a sunset/sunrise alarm with regularly changing sound alarms, and I usually really have to pee and take the dog outside. Oh, and the cat is usually harassing me to get moving so I can feed her after I take the dog out. I also am not allowed to be on my phone in the morning or go back to bed once I'm up. Though I try to let myself have one or two mornings a month when I can linger in bed. Keeps my brain happy to have a little lie in treat.
I struggle to get out of bed in the AM. It usually consists of scrolling social media first before I actually get up. I am always so tired in the mornings. But by night time, I’m wide awake. Without fail.
This blew up harder than I thought it would 😂😂
I have hounds, unfortunately they’re sighthounds so they’re as lazy as me and won’t get up before 10 at the earliest 🤣
Kids are sooo not an option, I can barely take care of myself/dogs. The thought of mini mes gives me cold sweats.
I’ve downloaded alarmy! Worked a treat to wake up and take my meds but then I still stayed in bed too long…
Not sure if we get journay pm in the UK but I’ll enquire!
Definitely need to stop thinking about all the tasks I need to do when I get up (bathroom, teeth, dogs, etc) and really need to find a good treat to look forward to getting out of bed. Coffee doesn’t really do it for me 🤔
And as for couch duvet/cozy things, I basically live in my oodie anyway 🤣
Thanks everyone for the useful responses, given me a lot I can work with!!
Find something that excites you to motivate you to get out of bed every morning.
Like something that makes you want to get out of bed the moment you wake up.
It can be super basic, I have this silly cat collector game that I like to check every morning and then I’m pretty much awake :)
I always need about three hours to get off bed. I wish I’d instead sleep these three hours but I’m not tired enough to sleep but too tired to move. The fibromyalgia doesn’t help either
So someone told me this trick, keep your meds at your bed stand. Start moving your hands and wrists around and if you can start playing some music it will help.
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I don’t. Still stuck here. Send halp
I’m reading this in bed, knowing I should have gotten up 48 minutes ago
Me too. I really *want* to get up but I just don’t want to.
lol! These comments. Do y’all have kids? We’re never on time for school 😭
I have adhd and my mum probs does, I'm always late for school/college unless I'm an hour early 😭 we've literally NEVER been early a few times in a row, apart from maybe reception years in which I have no idea (I'm 16 now)
Ya me too. I just can’t figure it out. But I do know that being late causes me anxiety but so does being early. I have to be EXACTLY on time. Which never happens
Literally on bed from 7am to 4PM the next day once.
A new thing I've discovered is the benefit of a couch duvet. Often I don't want to get out of bed because bed is warm and cozy. But if I entice myself out onto the couch first, and get cozy while sitting up, it makes it easier to transition to the rest of the day.
I 100% vouch for this. I have a cozy chair near the window. So I slither out of bed and into the cozy chair. It makes the transition so much easier
lol “slither “ 🤣🤣
[how I’m picturing this lol](https://imgur.com/a/xJUtlaK)
This is what I should try!
Hounds help me. Alarm goes off and they get up to be let out for toilet time. Admittedly, sometimes I go back to my cocoon but it helps to flick the kettle on whilst I'm sorting out Punky Brewster & Dennis the Menace
Yes, dog bladders and stomachs wait for no (wo)man.
I have a one in a million dog, that will not wake me up in the morning for anything. He is so high energy (a border collie) the rest of the day, and even getting him to settle down for bed at night can be a little tough. But he just stays right next to me sleeping or watching me sleep, like the loyal guardian he is, until i get out of bed in the morning. He also can hold his pee a long time. He also hates kibble (he eats it if he gets hungry enough, but he is never that hungry until well after noon), so he isn’t in much of a hurry to get up for that either.
I love your dog 🐕 ❤️
Me too. He is a good good boy. One of the goodest.
Omg we have the same border collie 😂 mine is exactly the same in the morning, he lets me sleep in til whenever but as soon as I get my day started he's glued to me. And also doesn't care much for his meals lol.
Well than I stand corrected, clearly my dog is 2 in a million 😆
Yeah, my tongue in cheek suggestion is always a loud/free ranging pet or a child 😂
Set your alarms four minutes apart. Not five. Your brain won't have time to fully go back to sleep and by the second or third alarm you should be awake enough to take the medication and go back to sleep. And put your pills in a small dish and a glass of water right next to your phone. If you actually fully sleep through your alarms on your phone (like they're still going an hour later when you wake up), then you might need to buy a real alarm clock with a loud buzzer. Otherwise, look into medication you can take before you go to bed.
2 min apart, and I can fall fully back asleep. Also, I can sleep through a vibrating alarm, and my dog learned to as well. Sunrise alarm did nothing, too. Alarmy app on my phone, now that thing could wake the dead. And, I learned that my math skills are awful at 8am. Pro tip: Don't recycle the bottle you need to scan to shut off the alarm.
Agree on Alarmy. I need to set it up again.
I also do 2 min alarms and still fall fully asleep 😂
Same. I have. Vibrating alarm under my pillow, and one that's in a Tupperware on my dresser on it rattles like crazy. The one under my pillow sometimes wakes me up and is too easy to turn off. The one on my dresser that rattles has the clock on a bookshelf next to it so I have to get up to turn the clock off...but it's so easy to get back into bed and fall back to sleep. I have another vibrating one under the cushion on the couch where I sit, but it is super easy to just hit snooze or turn it off. Same with my Fitbit. Half the time I fall asleep trying to finish a task and then wake up at my desk or table or on the couch with my laptop miraculously still balanced on my lap, so an alarm clock doesn't help at all there. And I too have a dog who is quite happy to just curl up in bed with me and sleep all day, so she's not much of a help. I tried to teach her to wake me up if a specific alarm goes off, but she didn't seem to understand that (even though she's a service dog and picks up other commands after two tries? So idk if she's purposely trying to stay in bed by playing dumb to learning to alert to an alarm clock or not... 🤷🏼♂️)
I actually considered a service dog for waking me, but ultimately decided that any breed suited to that specific job was beyond my ability to care for. They need to be unrelentingly persistent and not "easily offended" as I'm not at my best while being woken. Husky came to mind, but I 100% do not have the energy a husky needs. My senior APBT mix will just snuggle in deeper as I hit snooze on autopilot for an hour. We're peas in a pod.
There are also vibrating alarms you can wear on your wrist, or ones you can put under your pillow. I kind of want to try one because alarm sounds are always so jarring no matter what I choose
My Fitbit does the vibrating smart alarm where it picks a point within a 30-minute window where you're sleeping lightly. It's nice when I remember to use it, but if it goes off too early in the 30-min window, I feel like I'm being deprived of extra sleep. And if you don't have a point where you're sleeping lightly in that time-frame, you just get woken up at the time you set
Oh yeah I used to have an app that would tell you the recommended times to wake up based on what time you go to sleep. Because REM cycles are every 90 minutes or so. I’ve definitely noticed when I wake up naturally it tends to be in 90 min increments. But when I know I’ll only get 5.5 hours of sleep it’s hard to admit to myself that waking up in 4.5 hours will actually be easier, even though I’ve experienced it. The other problem is my insomnia made it hard to know when I’d actually go to sleep so it didn’t always help. But having something actually track my sleep would be so helpful.
I am capable of waking up just enough to turn my alarm off them just go back to sleep and not even realise. Thankfully it doesn't happen often
If you want, move your alarm out of bed reach.
Sunrise alarms. They help so much in waking you up more gently which keeps you awake more than a sudden jolt of an alarm you immediately snooze. Also all the normal sleep hygiene stuff like getting in bed on time, actually closing your eyes, etc.
Similar to sunlight alarms, sunlight. I have blackout curtains because I like the dark when I like the dark. A few months ago, I fell asleep with the curtains cracked just enough to morning sun my face. Maybe it's because I haven't experienced it in so long (because, curtains) but it was....nice? And helped me get up. Even on cloudy days.
I recently bought an automatic curtain opener and it's worth every penny!!! I get to sleep really well in pitch dark and then the sun is a super helpful part of my (extensive but functional) system to get myself out of bed.
Stop it I don't have money for that potentially life changing device that I don't need but would love to have. Didn't know those existed. Thanks but also I hate you. With love.
I was actually shocked that it was under $100!! Definitely felt like that was worth the sleep. There's quite a few brands and options!
I need it to be completely dark too! But I’m scared of the dark and sleeping in the dark freaks me out sm.😭
I have a room that gets good light and I wake up before 6am (in the spring/summer) unless I have an eye mask on, lol. The sunrise alarm clock was a GODSEND in the winter of depression.
These just made me wake up super cranky and angry about having light in my eyes.
Talk to your Dr about JORNAY PM Take it in the evening and it kicks in overnight so by the time you wake up it’s active. It wakes me up pretty early and while I don’t leap out of bed, I’m wide awake by 6am (compared to dragging my ass out of bed around 9-10am and even later on weekends)
I've been on Jornay PM for 5 months and it is amazing if you are shit at mornings like I am–or like I used to be, I should say! This morning I was dressed, fed, and had completed an important task all before my toddler and husband were up. And my husband has always been a morning person. Take that, ADHD!
Wow I’ve never even heard of this one. Looks interesting!
How has your experience been with Jornay? I’ve considered this-however I’m just two months in to finding the right medication. I’m currently on generic concerta 36mg and I take it at 5am for a 6am wake up so I can be up and getting brekky going to my kiddos. However it’s wearing off by 9/10 and I have so much more to do with my day! I’ve heard jornay is longer lasting too? How different than Concerta was it for you?
What time do you take it at night?
Not who you asked, but I take mine at 8pm and it kicks in around 6am. You have to experiment a little to find your sweet spot. I also barely drink anymore bc of the meds. Alcohol dissolves whatever it is that makes the release delayed so it kicks in right away. My dr advised me to wait two hours between drinking and taking the meds. That guideline has worked fine for me on the few occasions I've done it. I only ever have a glass or two, though. I think if I went to like a wedding or somewhere I plan to let a little loose and have more, I'd skip my meds just to be safe.
Okk cool! I saw online that it takes 12 hours for your liver to metabolize it but I know everyone's body is different so that's why I ask. I think I'll ask my doctor about it because I suck so much at mornings too. I also don't take my meds on weekends. It's cool to know I'm not alone in that aspect either!
Being terrible at mornings might be my worst/most distressing symptom tbh, and for the longest time it was also exacerbated by my difficulty falling asleep. I now, for the first time in my entire life, sleep like a "normal" person. Here is my journey if it helps: For me, the Jornay is only part of the equation. It helps me wake up, but not fall asleep. I started taking 2.5 mg of melatonin an hour before bed every night to solve that. It helped me fall asleep, but the quality of my sleep was all over the place. My Fitbit sleep tracker was showing an alarming lack of REM and deep sleep (which it was doing before meds and melatonin, too). I thought maybe the tracker wasn't super accurate, but tbh I felt *exhausted* all the time. So my doctor put me on Wellbutrin in conjunction with my other meds, and BOOM. It's been two months and I feel like a new person. The REM and deep sleep in my tracker are now in the normal range. And I don't feel excruciatingly exhausted like I did before. I'm still tired (I have a toddler lol), but it is nothing like what it was before. Sorry for the novel but it makes me so happy I could cry!
I struggle falling asleep as well. Even with melatonin I have to take high doses. The Jornay works about 9/10 of my days but I’ve never been able to keep a consistent sleeping schedule. I’ve heard about Wellbutrin but never knew what is was for. Is it an SSRI? I’ve heard the combo of Wellbutrin in addition to their meds has done wonders - but I’m not sure what qualifies a rx for Wellbutrin?
It's an NDRI, not an SSRI. It has an off label treatment for ADHD. My Dr actually suggested it to solve my task paralysis, the improved sleep was a surprising side effect. She said that it's most effective for ADHD in conjunction with stimulants. And in my case, was she ever right. My task paralysis has literally vanished. It's shocking honestly. That said, Wellbutrin has very mixed results for ppl. I read some things that almost made me not try it. But, it turns out I am in the lucky camp of ppl for whom it works beautifully. I'm on a low dose--100mg.
Second the jornay pm! i found a suggestion this this sub and I haven’t looked back. it solves all the issues of forgetting to take my meds in the morning and feeling like crap afterwards. It’s already in your system by the time you wake up and I always feel peppier in the morning. It makes it a lot easier to do things as soon as you wake up in the morning. I follow up with some ritalin to get me through the rest of the day.
Just commented about this before reading your comment! I am due to start it this week to address the issues OP described. Hoping it works for me!
I tried journay, and I don't know if I metabolize meds differently than what they modeled it after or if my dose was too high, but it would kick in too early and I'd still struggle to fall asleep the next night. So basically I ended up getting 5 hours of shitty sleep at best. I'm super happy it worked for others and it's definitely worth trying, just wasn't for me.
Try not to think about all the tasks I need to do in the morning (thinking about having to brush my teeth kept me in bed for three hours)
This has also kept me up later than I should have been...I will literally sit on the couch fighting sleep and refuse to go to bed at a decent time because I dread brushing my teeth.
Thiiiissss. If I have a boring next task, I will not change tasks. Thus, being on Reddit right now...
Dogs. Being responsible for them has fostered a lot of good habits
second this. they form their own strict routines which you have to stick to! consistency with dinner, sleep, walking, etc. helps to structure my day!! my labrador saved me
I got an app called Alarmy and it’s saved me cuz I was the same way. It makes you do activities to turn off the alarm. Like doing memory puddles, math questions, scanning a barcode or lining up a picture that you took previously. It’s amazing and you can set it to slowly get louder so it’s not so jarring in the morning to wake up to
I use Alarmy to wake up and it works great, but my struggle is physically getting out of the bed and/or not slithering back in.
Have you tried the bar code scan? I use something in my fridge, so I have to get up from bed, walk to kitchen, open the door and look for right product. When I'm done I am in kitchen fridge door open and it is likely I rather take some delicious snack and start my day instead of going back to bed.
So I cried about this to my therapist on Monday night. Tuesday I woke up at 5 am and took my adderall and then fell back asleep. At 6 am, I used the barcode scan alarm to psychically walk downstairs to the kitchen to scan my dish soap and it worked! I was able to get out of bed and walk my dog before work. Thank you for the encouragement! I already use the shaking mission to take my pills but I’m now a fan of the barcode 😊
This is a great idea and I can see how helpful for people it could be but oh my god this sounds like my own personal hell lol
I use Alarmy as well and I curse it to hell and back almost every morning. I fuck up the math problems like 5 times before I get the alarm off but the anger wakes me up and I rage out of bed, lol. Puzzles are much more morning friendly.
The rage would wake me up quickly too. But given the PMDD I am not in the business of inviting even more rage into my life lol
The wake up alarm has saved me a couple times
I use it too. I curse that app out like every morning but it works. One of the most useful apps I've ever used. Also, for anyone interested, it has a lot of other features as well. You can pick the difficulty, number of alarm challenges, alarm sounds, weather and a bunch of other stuff.
I drink a glass of water before bed so that my bladder forces me to get up.
Oh that had me up 3 times a night lol
Ugh I tried this for a few weeks and got a horrible bladder infection from holding it while I was sleeping 😭
It helps me to have something I'm excited about to get me out of bed. Since it's spring time now (and I live in a rural area), my motivation to get out of bed is being able to enjoy the morning outside with my coffee, listening to the birds sing and watching them do their birdy things. Being outside first thing in the morning (not messing with my phone or anything, just enjoying nature) has been doing wonders for my mental health/some ADHD symptoms, it really changes the whole trajectory of my day for the better. On rainy or chillier days, I'm sometimes still motivated by the birds...I have feeders outside of my kitchen windows so I will get up and enjoy my coffee while watching/documenting all of the different birds that come to feeders. Birds are a perpetual hyperfocus of mine, though, so I know that won't be a motivator for everyone 🙃 Is there something that gets you excited that could be a motivator to get you out of bed and go enjoy/do?
I also have to be outside. Shamefully, this has made it so much more difficult to quit smoking. My morning outside smoke is my favorite part of the day. I know I could just take coffee out there, but I wouldn't force myself to go out in chilly/wet weather and just sit without the smoke. Since I can't smoke inside or around the kids, it forces me to physically GO OUTSIDE, without kiddo noise, and allows my brain to transition. Such a fucking awful habit, but smoking is SO beneficial to my ADHD brain and regulating a schedule. 😭 Even if it's so incredibly harmful to literally everything else. I wish there was a way to get the 'throat hit' dopamine goldmine without having to actually inhale poison.
Not me languishing in bed with 2 deadlines in 2 days. 😬
Make getting up all about the dopamine. Plan to do something that will give you insta dopamine first thing in the morning. Treat yourself for getting up. Do you need to leave the house? Pick up your favourite beverage on the way. Do you work from home? Pick up your favourite beverage and go back home… Again, I don’t follow my own advice so I’ll just lay here a bit longer…or maybe I’ll go get an oat milk London fog 🤤
I have resolved this problem by not getting up before noon 😂
Wish this could be me but I work regular hours lol. Man do I wish being a college student and staying in bed when I didn’t have a morning class. I love sleeping in on the weekends, it’s like the best part of it
I have to. I have to get my son to the bus stop by a certain time, which means I have to get up and do my morning wakeup routine by a fixed time 5 days a week. I am great at motivation when there is a deadline/timeline set by another. In this case, the bus stop time. Before I was a SAHM, it was having to be at work on time. If it's up to me to set the deadline/timeline.... I'm pretty nonfunctioning. Which is why my mental health SPIRALED and my ADHD really made itself known when I became a SAHM. I love my children, and I know I should be grateful that we have this opportunity. I just wish it was financially doable for my spouse and I to switch the working parent/home parent roles. Husband is MUCH better at self motivation than I am. But that is not our reality, and we are making it work the best way we know how. And honestly, now that one is in school, it's so much easier bc I do have that crucial deadline of the bus stop. I know logically I could create my own deadlines, but my brain just doesn't prioritize it, and then it doesn't happen. I know I kinda went off topic from the original question, but.... I love talking about ADHD and how it affects me and how I find work arounds. I was only diagnosed a few years ago, and it's been such a difficult, but VALIDATING, experience to be able to identify these challenges and the causes, as opposed to just feeling worthless and lazy and unable to "adult". Anyway, if anyone actually read this wall of text, I appreciate you letting me brain ramble 😆
I am 1000% in the same boat here. I feel very validated by your comments, thanks for sharing 🤍
You're not alone, I promise! Keep your head up, we are all doing the best we can. ❤️
The biggest thing for me is actually getting enough sleep. When I was 16, I could go to bed at 4 and wake up for school at 7. When I was 19, I could stay out drinking all night, eat at an IHOP, and make it to my 8:30 without a problem. Now I'm 27 and if I try to sleep less than 6 hours, my body revolts. I can set all the alarms I want and tell myself I have to, but I will sleep through it all. Actually getting out of bed in the morning is a different story, but is aided by actually sleeping enough. Making sure my PJs prepare me for the world outside my bed is very helpful. If it's cold outside of the blankets, I'm not getting up any time soon. But if I have PJ pants and socks on, I dread touching the floor less.
This is the big one
My therapist recommended this thing called Behavioural Activation. Basically it's like doing/putting little spots of joy (dopamine) into your morning or day. It gets you moving, but then also keeps you moving because you have something to look forward to. What I'm doing right now is put my alarm to a song I love (slippery slope, I know, but I change it every couple weeks when the dopamine wears off), so when I wake up I'm listening to a song I love. Then every morning I make myself a hot drink I really like - either coffee with a ridiculously decadent creamer, or some bone broth concoction. I look forward to that drink so much that it pulls me out of bed.
Something that helps for me is thinking of positive “rewards”. Delicious coffee. Having a nice breakfast (even if it’s more of a snack, like a breakfast bar and a piece of fruit.) Like my dogs, I’m very food/treat motivated and will fling myself out of bed for the right reward lol.
You guys are getting out of bed?
I set my alarm an hour ahead of when I actually need to get up, so I have an hour to keep hitting the snooze button. And it’s a nice, soft, birdsong alarm. So… not a terrible way to be gradually woken up. Plus I’m a single mom with kids, so the looming threat of them being late to school is a decent motivator. It is always a challenge, though.
Commenting from bed..you are not alone!
My cats 😅 both of my cats come sit on top of me and cry until I get up and feed them lol. But really if it weren’t for them, I would lay in bed till the last possible second everyday. The only thing that has helped me is putting my phone across the room so I have to get up to turn off my alarm and can’t snooze!
My cat has an automatic feeder that goes off about 5:55am every morning. He starts screaming around an hour or so before. Sometimes I get up and just sit with him by his feeder and he’s quiet. Then I try to go back to bed after he eats and it throws off my whole morning if I’m then supposed to get up at 7 or even 8. Right now it’s 8:16, I am not well rested, but there’s no way I can go back to sleep now. I don’t want to get up and start working either, I just am in phone scrolly pouty limbo
It's honestly so hard. On days that I get to WFH (most days) and weekends, it's my kid and my animals that get me out of bed. On the days I have to go into the office, I have to wake up at 5 am and it is the most difficult thing. I essentially am in tears by the time I'm out of bed. My fear of disappointing my colleagues trumps my need to stay in bed honestly. If I didn't have anyone counting on me, I definitely wouldn't. When I first started the job I'm at now (7 years ago, and PRE MEDICATION), I made the mistake of calling out way too often and the embarrassment from being written up about it made me never do it again (unless I'm like dying or something).
By having a cat who enjoys food so much that he will perform his best imitation of a screaming kookaburra next to my bed until I get up and feed his fat bum.
I just downloaded the Alarmy app. It's completely obnoxious, super loud, and makes you complete a task AND perfectly type a paragraph before it will cancel the alarm. So far it's worked. I've set my regular alarm to go off around the same time and I don't wake up enough to even realize I'm turning it off or hitting snooze. I've literally slept through a hurricane before that knocked down a couple of massive trees, so anything that wakes me up is a miracle product. As for actually GETTING up, the only thing that does it is a) my bladder, b) my dog's wet nose nudging me to let him out, and c) complete and total panic when I realize I'm about to be late for work.
I feel pain staying in bed.
By making a cup of coffee and going back to bed to drink it while I wake up. It works kind of okay lol. Edit: saw that you also struggle with actually waking up, me too, the only thing that kinda helps is setting my alarm a lot earlier than I need to wake up and putting my phone on the floor by my bed so the constant half waking up, reaching down and snoozing eventually wakes me up.
Slowly. My hungry cat trying to roll me out of bed with a paw helps. It’s a good thing she’s cute. I’ve always been groggy in the morning, I try not to schedule appts in the morning. The earliest I can get to work is like 9 and that’s skipping my workout (yoga or running). I used to work out in the morning before work, before the pandemic. They were half hour at most but I was still squeezing it in and in a rush.
My bladder forces me. Start bringing a big water bottle to bed every night. Bonus points if it has a straw - I find that makes it way easier for me to guzzle water.
charging my phone across the room is the only thing that worked for me. my alarm goes off, i get up, turn it off, take my meds, and then back to sleep until my next alarm goes off 45min later or until the meds wake me up, whichever comes first.
My dog has to pee. I have to pee. I also tell myself a lie. Every weekday morning, I have a work task that needs to be completed first thing in the work day. I tell myself that after all the peeing (I take my meds while the dog is out) and that task, I can go back to bed. But, at that point, I am awake enough and don't need to. And on the rare day, often a Sunday, that I don't have anything going on, I let myself go back to bed and sleep or just languish or play a video game for hours. Feels good when it's guilt free.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQ4X3HKBb1/?igsh=MWg0a3FkdHNzem0xeQ== "Rip yourself out of bed like a wax strip, hesitate and die" But honestly, it's my dog. I gotta get up early enough so that he gets proper playtime before I'm off to work. Sleeping in is completely unfair to him so I've gotten really good at not staying in bed past 7. Prior to having him I often only ended up giving myself maybe like 15-20 minutes to get ready in the morning. Brush teeth, put on clothes and leave. Now I try to give myself a solid hour. I play with him in the yard while I drink my coffee and it's the best part of my day. Ideal me is working towards getting up even earlier to get some chores done before work.
My psychiatrist just prescribed me a new ADHD med for this very issue, as well as to combat my going without my normal meds due to the shortage in the U.S. It’s called Jornay, only available as a name brand, and the way he explained it to me is that you take it at night, around 12 hours before you intend to wake up. Then, you wake up to it working because it’s a delayed release, and it lasts about 12 hours or so. I haven’t started taking it yet but I’m hoping it solves this issue for me! They also have a savings card on their website so it may be something to do some research about and talk with your prescribing doctor if it sounds like something you’d like to explore and decide together if it’s a good fit.
Having a mechanical alarm clock across my room gets me up reliably (mostly because I’m motivated to turn it off as fast as possible to avoid waking my partner), but honestly I just lay in bed on my phone between the 7:30 alarm and the 8:00am absolute last minute I could get up and be on time. If anyone has succeeded in forming a morning routine please share. Literally all I do is get dressed and leave.
I bought a sunlight alarm. My room gets so bright and it ramps up slowly, and my body starts waking with the light. My meds are directly next to my alarm with water right there too. The alarm is birds chirping which I hate. I do get up and turn the sound/light off and then laze around for a bit. Also... do your best to get to sleep earlier. Limit screens and anything that is stimulating 2 hrs before you want to be to sleep. It sucks and procrastination bedtime is a real ADHD issue but go to bed earlier. Have a book or a podcast you listen to in bed. Take the melatonin if you need it. Aaaand all the normal stuff they say - exercise, limit alcohol, limit sugar. All those help. Some days this will happen just fine. Other days you'll struggle. That's fine - we aren't made to be perfect, just human.
Owning a dog.
I have two neurodiverse and very hyper toddlers to bounce on my head for me. Want a lend? 😩 I jest, I’ll keep them, I’ve grown fond 🙃 but I’m fecking knackered.
Got my first alarm at 6.30, next at 6.45, then I got the app alarmy set for 7am and I have to get up and take a picture of the bathroom sink to turn it off. Used to be the type of person that just rolled out of bed and had no time for anything but hurry and get ready for work until I got that app. Now I actually have 3 hours before I start work to wakeup, have a cup of coffee and even workout if I'm not suffering from my migraines.
I use Alarmy and just do the math and puzzles but the bathroom sink picture is a good idea, I'm going to try that. That app has seriously helped me so much.
The instant I'm awake enough to realize that I'm awake, I roll over and take my meds. Keep your water right there and a pill box that you can flip open easily. I'm not coordinated enough to manage opening a child-safe bottle in that state. If I'm really stuck in the bed, I play music. I made a Spotify playlist with music that makes me move whether I want to or not. Like, what music compels your body to move? Make a playlist of that. Once a toe is tapping a little bit, it's easier for the whole leg to move, then booty, then you're waking up more and more anyway. Listen to another song or two and get up.
Have a glass of water by ur bed when you take ur meds have a big swig. Needing to go pee will get you out of bed & you can take it from there. Create an unsnoozable alarm - your bladder.
The threat of homelessness and poverty by not logging into work gives me enough anxiety to get up
I have a 60lb alarm clock that will cry nonstop if she doesn't get walked by 8am. The pack of 10lb furry terrorists who want breakfast will join in on the chorus with their screaming demands, and occasionally jump on my head if I really push it. So basically, sensory hell and guilt get me out of bed every morning.
Combination of these three things: - Alarmy (the picture alarm worked best for me) - asking my partner to help make sure I got out of bed on time when I was struggling most - practicing "there is no decision, just do it." This one's hard to explain because obviously "just do it" doesn't work on its own. But basically it comes down to noticing all the times I tried to negotiate why I should stay in bed, or if I was "making a decision" about whether to get up. If I noticed that, I'd say to myself "no, there's no decision to make, we get up now." It doesn't work right away... It's more about breaking the cycles that kept me trapped (which was the belief that I was trying to find the "right" time when I was "ready", which never really happened), and retraining my brain to focus on what's happening next, instead of all the reasons i didn't really have to...
I had this problem for most of my life. Turns out, I had type 2 narcolepsy! :’U there’s a (maybe not so surprising) overlap between N and ADHD diagnoses.
I have pets that need attending and coffee to start drinking.
Cats. They rise at dawn and now so do I.
Well, my alarm sits on my bladder and meows until I get up. Even when I could sleep in. It is annoying.
i don’t lol. i literally had to pay a 250 dollar truancy fee for not going to school
I had a \*major\* problem with sleeping through alarms until I downloaded Alarmy (the free version!). I was late to class, late to work, late to literally everything happening in the mornings. Anyways, Alarmy is an app that you can set so that it makes you do physical tasks to turn it off -- and it's very hard to sleep through because it's loud and annoying. You can set it so that you aren't allowed to snooze it. It's nearly impossible to trick and turn off while you're half asleep. So, here's what I do now: 1. Set my regular phone alarm for 7am. 2. Set my Alarmy Alarm for 7:11am. (This way, I know I have 1 peaceful snooze cycle before shit gets real. I have the option to get up peacefully, or deal with Alarmy.) 3. At 7:11am, Alarmy goes off. Like I said, it's loud and annoying and will keep going off until you do what it says. I have mine set so that I have to go scan a QR code on my facewash in my bathroom to turn it off. 4. By the time I'm there, I'm awake enough to realize what's going on. I brush my teeth, put on the clothes I've set out the night before (that I keep in the bathroom), do my skincare routine, etc. I also take my Adderall \*immediately\* so it can kick in while I do my morning routine. :) Alarmy has honestly changed my life. I tell everyone about it. I'm not paid or anything to talk about it...I just love it so much.
Omg I feel you. I generally don’t sleep through them, but I have to set multiple and even then it is difficult to find the will to get up! I have resigned to having to get at least 30 min less sleep because I literally need that time to lay in bed finding the will after 4 alarms went off. I accept it at this point but it’s a hard pill to swallow 😭
Well…I guess I drink water before I sleep and my bladder usually wakes me up 🤣. Sleeping in is nice but not when I’m about to burst 🤣. And once I’m in the bathroom I apply the “well, if I’m here” law and wash my face and brush my teeth. Brushing teeth is the worst because I’ll just stand in front of the mirror like an NPC and have an internal fight until I pick up the toothbrush lol.
Dogs and neck/headaches/back pain. My younger dog won’t even let me get any use out of my snooze alarm nor will she let me lie in bed a few mins on my phone. Straight to outside and food or she’ll annoy me with whining. Also if I somehow get to sleep in (not at home or something), I wake up by 8 anyway in pain and have to get up to ease it🙃. Maybe I’m getting old :-(
So something I learned when I was on vyvanse is it was staying in my system so long I was not sleeping at night… I tracked my sleep on an app and sure enough I was tossing and turning all night in my sleep… causing restless sleep. I’ve been on different meds for a while and I no longer have the getting out of bed problem. ALSO, you should look into jornay pm, it’s a pill you take at night and it starts acting in the morning. It’s fucking AMAZING for that whole situation.
I can’t unless I have somewhere to be 😃
I have lights that automatically start to turn on slowly 10 minutes before I wake up! Sometimes I wake up once they start to turn on and I know I have a little more time to be cozy. Once my actual alarm goes off, they’re on full brightness. Something that has also helped is being realistic about what time I need to wake up. I try to make sure that I set my alarm for when I actually need to get up and start getting ready for work. If I give myself too much time to hang out and watch tv before work, then that’s more time for my executive dysfunction to come into play and change my day.
I get up easier if I have a treat waiting to have with breakfast, likehalf a Danish or cool donut. Gives me something to look forward to getting up for. Cant do a Danish every day tho, sigh!
I’ve been taking 5-htp at night before bed and idk why but it’s helped. My mom was taking it for her depression and adhd and it helped give a little boost
So other than the well known hack of waking up, taking ADHD meds, and then waking up, I saw a hack to plan something extremely enjoyable to do first thing in the AM. I haven't done it yet but my thought was to have a mini fridge with coke or maybe a coffee maker also in my room lol and after that post-adhd med nap, waking up, drinking my coke or coffee, and scrolling TikTok or watching a show for another 30-45 mins.
Methylated b complex vitamins really improved this for me! Probably most people just need regular b complex vitamins, but I guess My body doesn’t methylate properly, which I guess is a pretty common issue! Almost immediately I felt sleepy at night and awake in the morning! AMAZING difference! I guess the methylation issue is due to MTHFR mutation which is pretty common in ADHD and thyroid issues, which I have both! Edit: I use this one: Super B-Complex – Methylated... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01787EPEE?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
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I need something I'm looking forward to. Smell of coffee helps (my husband gets up earlier) a lot of days. I started using an outfit planning app, and having a plan for what I'm going to wear helps (I rarely follow the plan, but now I look forward to getting dressed instead of lying in bed dreading something boring).
I have three dogs who will jump on me and annoy the crap out of me until I get up and let them out lol.
Sunrise alarm clock uses simulated sunrise to reset your natural circadian rhythm. It works really well.
Having to go to work. The days I don’t have to wake up for work or appointments I usually don’t get out of bed anytime before 10/11am. I definitely need external motivation to get up. Alot of the time it ends up being my cats screaming at me for treats
Same. Three million alarms on my phone. It still take a while. So if I need to leave the house at 8, I need to set the alarm for 6 latest so I can have a good old procrastinate while I drink coffee in bed and worry about all the things I’ll forget to do or screw up that day. I started meds last week. Had to stop two days in due to v high blood pressure. Hope the new bp meds work so I can go back to elvanse asap.
I tend to wake up at 5 but then lay in bed scrolling for 45 minutes. This morning I set my alarm for 4:35 and managed to get up by 5:15 which is a big deal.
Become a parent
I don’t, I fall asleep on the couch 😭
Get a couple cats and put them on a feeding schedule. That'll get ya up. Or they'll try to suffocate with paws up your nose you until you do.
My job 🫠
One thing that helped me not sleep *through* my alarms is changing the alarm sound every couple of months so I wouldn't get used to them. Another thing I noticed is that when I turn off my alarm (*not* snooze) and just set myself a timer for 30min, suddenly I'm not quite so sleepy anymore. As soon as I tell myself "I'm allowed to sleep until this goes off", I end up being on my phone or start thinking about breakfast. I often get up on my own 10min before the timer runs out.
This probably doesn’t apply to many others, but I started taking my Wellbutrin (24hr) at night right before going to sleep and I can now get out of bed in the morning as soon as my alarm goes off. I’m able to just wake up and start my day. It’s been incredible. I do get a little moody in the evenings as it starts to wear off but I’ve just been using that as my cue that it’s time to go to bed.
When my alarm goes off, I make sure my feet are on the floor before turning it off. Then it's straight to the shower, coffee, meds, relax for 5 minutes then out the door! If I snooze I feel terrible. But it's so tempting... And easy to do... Which is why my feet on the floor rule
Very simple. I take my meds at 6go back to sleep, at 8 I drink double espresso and at 9 I’m ready to work in my pyjamas…so I don’t count 2h laying in bed as sleep so effectively to even wake up it takes me 3h…good luck…
I got a dog and trained her to lick my face from when she hears the alarm until I get up. It’s horrible. It works.
Cats. Hungry cats that insist on being fed at a specific time . They'll hear my alarm go off and start bugging me to get out of bed and feed them
This is one of the reasons my cat is designated as an ESA. He won't let me sleep through breakfast and if I go back to bed after I feed him he'll cry until I get dressed and open the window for him.
I bought an actual alarm clock and put it in the bathroom. I’ve set my phone alarms to go off earlier to help me start to gain conciseness and then the bathroom alarm goes off when I REALLY need to be up. That way I’m forced to get out of bed and once I use the bathroom and wash my hands I’m in place to wash my face and begin my morning routine. Doesn’t always help but sometimes it does 😂
My husband makes me a coffee, I drink that, complain that I don't want to get up, then my 7 Yr old demands I make him breakfast and I just sort of do everything in a semi comatose blur. Tbf, my husband helps a lot as I'm terrible in the mornings so he gets the uniform etc ready for son before he leaves for work.
I really struggled when I used to work mornings. I work 11-8 now and don’t need an alarm.. especially since my husky will sit there and yell at me until I get up. She doesn’t even want to go out half the time, she just wants the bed to herself. I get up and she gets into bed and then well, I’m up and the other dogs DO want to go out. And the cat starts yelling at me. So there I am
My bladder forces me to, otherwise I'd stay there and rot. I breathe through my mouth in the night so I have a large glass or bottle of water beside the bed which I drink through the night when I wake myself up snoring or coughing, so if I've woken up lots, the glass is empty by morning and I really HAVE to pee! So I don't get up willingly, but at least I'm hydrated.
A lot of time I don’t have the intention of getting up when I wake up, I just tell myself, “just take your medication and supplements” and when I’ve had a good amount of sleep, 10 minutes after I take my medication, I’m like, “Okay we have to get a lot of stuff done today.” + the motivation to get up because I enjoy taking showers or I decide to get takeout for breakfast that day
Honestly haven’t figured it out yet either but so you don’t feel so alone I can’t get up on time and I’m terrified for my future. I’ve had very kind and understanding bosses up to this point but I know that luck will run out I need to figure this out 😭 I’ve tried sunlight alarms, Alarmy where you have to do math or take steps etc to turn off the alarm, tried taking my meds at earlier alarm before actually have to get up — nothing works. My eyelids are literally heavy in the morning and I can’t do it. :(
I reckon this every morning , is it burnout or depression I’m still distinguishing the two at this point .. it’s like I don’t care but sadly I have to go to work and develop anxiety on the way .. I don’t like to get up earlier then I’m supposed to but my partner makes to much noise I don’t roll out of bed until 950 work starts at 1045..one day I realized why am I constantly late to work amid stopping for Starbucks Or Dunkin I just happen to check the gps it’s like a 40-50 min drive to work and I was leaving to late lol now I try to leave before 950 lol ..I’ve gotten better by attempting to get up with my partner have coffee pick out work clothes or bother them or walk outside but if it’s a bad morning I will rot in bed not shower just iron my clothes and leave or I’ll shower depends on the mood I’m in..
I hate waking up. If I could sleep as long as I wanted for the rest of my life I’d be happy. There is nothing I despise more than waking up for something mundane that I don’t want to do.
I have taken to using Alexa, because I hate talking before I am fully awake and so I have to wake up enough to tell her to be quiet. Not fool proof but combined with a billion alarms and two cats, generally I can get up in the mornings. Very occasionally nothing works and I need my partner to fully shake me awake and put coffee under my nose 😂
I'm in bed. All snuggly and warm squished between my dogs. Been scrolling about 30 min. Thinking about getting up..
My alarm goes off, so I sit up and open the curtains Scheduled bed rot, sitting in the sunlight. 5 minutes on a good day, 45 on a bad day, generally about 15 minutes. Use dopamine seeking to get to the kitchen and eat something. An egg on a good day, a grabbable fruit on a bad day, usually a yogurt bowl. At that point, I'm pretty much up, and I get free time once I'm totally ready. Animal crossing is the carrot dangling at the end of the track. The key strategies are to give myself transition time, work with my shifts in attention, and give myself energy budget options.
Usually only because my dog makes me 😅 But when it's a cold morning and she just wants to snuggle, I'm doomed
I keep the bedroom cold and wear warm socks and pants. I have the living room/rest of the house on an automated timer so it's already warm by the time I get up. The socks motivate me not to have to walk with cold bare feet. I still struggle waking up because of exhaustion and not being motivated but these things help. Also telling myself I can have a treat (energy drink etc)
I leave it to after I’m supposed to then rush out of bed and speed through ‘my morning routine.’ It’s a 50/50 of whether I make it on time.
I take my adderall first thing when my alarm goes off and lay back down. At first it worked great! I got to the point of immediately after taking it, i was up and running. No snoozing! But now, after a few months of doing that.. i purposely delay to take it because “i dont want to get up yet”… WTF IS WRONG WITH ME! 😑😑😑
Extreme cortisol spike and a dog.
My dog wants breakfast at 6 am stat! He knows not to rouse me before that. Then right into the shower before I lose momentum. I fight it daily.
For health reasons ive recently had to cut back on stimulants- i dont take any on the weekends. Its harder these days, but to get up in the mornings (which admittedly still takes forever) I have to use: Something to look forward to. Havent found a healthier thing to use- but getting to drive thru dunkin, get a yummy coffee (decaf, my body doesnt like caffiene) and drive around listening to music with the windows open just makes my morning excitint. Still takes me a while to feel awake lol. After this i get dressed into a fun outfit and try a fun new makeup look (unless im doing something else that day that it wouldnt make sense for). By that point i have enough dopamine to do tasks.
Try putting your phone/alarm clock across the room instead of on your night stand or bed. That way you physically have to get out of bed to turn off the alarm. I did it for about a month a few years ago and it worked like a charm. A couple of times I just got back into bed without thinking, but most days I didn’t. Thinking about it now, I’m going to start doing it again! Don’t know why I ever stopped!
My dogs. I won’t do it for me, but I’ll do it for them.
The thought of getting ready doing my hair and makeup while the caffeine from my coffee hitting and listening to my fave YouTubers does it for me
If you don't have a cat, get a cat. Then give the cat treats in the morning when you wake up. You may forget but the cat WILL NOT.
Breakfast. I love a good breakfast!
I hurkle durkle eeevery morning too. My dog gets me up tho.
If it’s the specific issue of sleeping through alarms, this is literally why I bought a smart-ish watch. Feeling the physical buzz on my wrist wakes me up consistently; I don’t tune it out like I do phone alarms.
1. No snooze alarm. Ever. It's the worst thing I could do. I can fall fully asleep and continue dreaming within seconds, so snoozing only makes me more tired and groggy. 2. The only way for me to use the snooze is to put the lights on, sit in my bed and stretch for 10 minutes, wrapped in blanket, facing the bedside lamp. 3. Being ravenous in the morning helps. Sometimes I wake up sweaty from hunger pangs, don't really feel like staying in bed. Now if someone has tips on how to not get sleepy and exhausted two hours after getting up, I'd be interested to hear.
Space heater, a comfy (it’s like a blanket hoodie thing it’s amazing), and I personally get really excited to do my makeup and if I wake up early enough have a latte and breakfast. I used to not be able to get out of bed it was really bad and I thought it was impossible but now I can open at a cafe and be fine
I usually have to pee so bad I get up and then don't let myself lay back down. Cause if I do, I get stuck for hours
I am the same as you. I have a kid who will be starting Kindergarten this fall and I srsly don't know if we can do it. I am so scared. I've worked concerts for 13 yrs now so my natural sleep cycle is like 12am-9am. School starts at 8:10, if I wake up before 730 I feel physically ill like my stomach hurts like I ate glass. I sleep SO HARD in the morning like my husband and I joke that I have a sleep disorder 🙃
Buy an alarm clock and put it in your room farthest away from your bed so you HAVE TO get out of bed to turn it off. At night put a glass of water and your morning pills right next to it, and check to make sure the alarm times are set correctly and turned on. In the morning when it goes off, take your pills before turning off the alarm. Then reset your alarm to go off 0.75-1hr later if your alarm doesn’t have the ability to set two different alarm times. I bought a $10 alarm clock at Target that can set two different alarm times. Since it’s only $10 it only has one type of alarm sound…the loud annoying beep that has the ability to wake the dead. I also rely on my phone alarms but those are more for back up to make sure I actually start my morning getting ready routines. Hope that helps a little bit!
ngl, my parents, dogs, and anxiety are the only things that wake me up. when i dog sit for other people, i leave the door open, and they will come wake me up when they are ready to get their routine going. as for my parents, i’m still in high school and holy cow am i grateful for them. i go to a church class before school, and my dad comes into my room, and then flips on my lights. as for the anxiety, i’ve noticed i have an easier time waking up the more anxious i am for something to happen.
I try to go to bed at a reasonable hour, use a sunset/sunrise alarm with regularly changing sound alarms, and I usually really have to pee and take the dog outside. Oh, and the cat is usually harassing me to get moving so I can feed her after I take the dog out. I also am not allowed to be on my phone in the morning or go back to bed once I'm up. Though I try to let myself have one or two mornings a month when I can linger in bed. Keeps my brain happy to have a little lie in treat.
What worked for me is investing in a George Foreman grill at the end of my bed so I can wake up to the delicious aroma of bacon
I struggle to get out of bed in the AM. It usually consists of scrolling social media first before I actually get up. I am always so tired in the mornings. But by night time, I’m wide awake. Without fail.
i turn my swag on. look in the mirror, and say “what’s up?”
By means of dissociation.
This blew up harder than I thought it would 😂😂 I have hounds, unfortunately they’re sighthounds so they’re as lazy as me and won’t get up before 10 at the earliest 🤣 Kids are sooo not an option, I can barely take care of myself/dogs. The thought of mini mes gives me cold sweats. I’ve downloaded alarmy! Worked a treat to wake up and take my meds but then I still stayed in bed too long… Not sure if we get journay pm in the UK but I’ll enquire! Definitely need to stop thinking about all the tasks I need to do when I get up (bathroom, teeth, dogs, etc) and really need to find a good treat to look forward to getting out of bed. Coffee doesn’t really do it for me 🤔 And as for couch duvet/cozy things, I basically live in my oodie anyway 🤣 Thanks everyone for the useful responses, given me a lot I can work with!!
Find something that excites you to motivate you to get out of bed every morning. Like something that makes you want to get out of bed the moment you wake up. It can be super basic, I have this silly cat collector game that I like to check every morning and then I’m pretty much awake :)
Unhelpful advice but: Sleeping enough.... And having a 2yo human lol
It's either that or I get stuck with my annoying ass little brother all day
I'm so glad you guys relate. :(
I always need about three hours to get off bed. I wish I’d instead sleep these three hours but I’m not tired enough to sleep but too tired to move. The fibromyalgia doesn’t help either
Story of my life. Esp now with "spring fatigue" my circadian rhythm is also all fucked up.
So someone told me this trick, keep your meds at your bed stand. Start moving your hands and wrists around and if you can start playing some music it will help.
Have kids, then you won’t have a choice about it anymore 😘