wouldn’t necessarily say I’m a morning person but I’m not exactly a non-morning person either. I am however an enormous, gluttonous, can’t-get-enough-of-my-delightful-bed person and I really struggle with this when it actually comes to leaving my bed once I’m awake. When I’m all snuggly and delicious in a giant pool of heaven blankets, I find it really difficult to get my butt out of bed and into the shower. There are a few things I’ve been experimenting with recently that seem to be working so if you can’t get out of bed in the morning here are a few things you should try.
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1. Keep your alarm in another room
I keep my iPhone in the lounge room so when it goes off, I have to get up to press snooze. Once you break the bed cocoon it’s all over, you might as well get in the shower and start your day. The trick with this one is putting the alarm as far away from your bed as possible… so you can’t just stumble back under the covers and face-plant for another 15 minutes.
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2. Use two different alarms in different locations
I have an old-fashioned bell style alarm clock next to by bed but to be honest, it’s kind of awful to wake up to so I set my phone alarm in the lounge room for 6am with a less abrasive alarm and my bedside table alarm is set for 6.01. That way I have to get up, turn off the alarm in the lounge room, then turn off the bedside alarm before it goes off because I really, really hate that horrible bell. By this stage I’ve been wandering around for at least 60 seconds doing fairly delicate tasks that require a bit of brain power and it wakes me up enough to keep me out of bed.
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3. Keep the blinds open
Your circadian rhythms are (should be) in tune with the rising and the setting of the sun so if you make sure the sun visible from your bed, you’ll have a much easier time waking up in the morning. I have an eye-mask that I use to block light as I fall asleep but I’ve usually lost it somewhere in the bed by morning time so the sun gently wakes me as it rises. It’s very difficult to get of bed if your room is dark.
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4. Organise everything the night before
The less I have to do in the morning, the better. If I’m going to the gym or yoga, I will have everything all set out in a pile – clothes, towel, keys, water bottle – so I don’t even have to think about it. I do the same thing on non-gym days with my clothes for the day, breakfast things and make-up. If I’m lying in bed and feeling annoyed about having to find my headphones/favourite bra/appropriate socks it’s just too much crap first thing in the morning which makes it impossible to get out of bed. Getting organised the night before means that you’ll wake up with a clear head and it will make it much easier to get out of bed in the morning.
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5. Eat a small dinner and then nothing afterwards
I’ve been doing the 5:2 diet since about June this year and not only have I lost weight and changed shape but it’s also taught me about the effect my eating habits have on my sleep. On fast days where I consume just 500 calories a day and usually stop eating at about 7pm in the evening, I have a much deeper and more restful sleep and waking up the next day is far less traumatic. Many sleep experts suggest eating light dinners and not snacking into the night and now I think they may be on to something.
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