I Want to be a Morning Person

Can you be reprogrammed?

Published on September 7, 2004 By JillUser In Just Hanging Out

I really would like to be one of those people who jump out of bed in the morning and are bright eyed and ready for the day....I'm not. Never have been. For as long as I can remember my brain hears the wake up call and immediately starts scheming ways of staying in bed for "just 5 more minutes".

I like sleep too much. It has gotten worse since we purchased the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I got a comfy, fluffy pillow for Christmas last year so sleep time is like floating on a cloud. Part of me knows I will feel better if I just get up and get moving. Why does my brain instantly go to stay-in-bed mode?

Can you reprogram? Are there any non-morning people out there who have successfully converted. Do any of you out there sympathize with my plight? My hubby and I are night owls in our natural state but I am forced to get up early now that we have kids in school.

I would love to convince my brain to pop out of bed early, get some exercise in before anyone else is up, take a shower and be ready to get my 7yr old (not a morning person either) up and off to school. Doesn't sound that hard. In fact, sounds like the perfect plan for a healthy day. So why can't I seem to do it?!

Comments

KarmaGirl

on Sep 07, 2004

I'm not a morning person at all, and I doubt that you can change it. I have to get up early and go to work, but I rather not. Half the time I just wander around half asleep until I get in the shower for a few minutes.

Good luck with trying to figure out how to become a morning person. Once you figure it out, write a book and become famous!

Sally jacobs

on Sep 07, 2004

I'm not really a morning person either. Though I do love really early in the morning. When no one else is awake, and it's all really quiet, I love that time of day. I had a job after I left school where I had to start work at 7am. For me a night person that was really harsh I hated it, but I did get used to it, I adore my sleep far to much. When I had that job, I got into the pattern of having naps in the afternoon, so I could stay up late still, but be ok to get up in the morning. Now I know you can't do that having kids and all, so I haven't really been much help, just showing some solidarity for us sleepy heads! It's a pattern I haven't been able to stop though, even after leaving the job. I now get up at the same time, go to the gym, and then do whatever I have to do for the day, and then I am ready for my afternoon nap. I usually have about three hours in the afternoon. Not a good habit to be in, but I love them!

Doomagoth

on Sep 07, 2004

The only way to break the pattern is just do it..i work nites so im up late evey nite,the problem i have is i go to bed late 2 or 3 am and get up at 7:30 or sometimes i dont come out of the coma till 10 or 11 am.it varies. I used to come home from work and stay up for a couple of hours then go to bed. That seem to work. Id go to bed fairly early and get up early.But now im back to staying up till 2 or 3 am. I thinks it all about habits.Another problem i have is ..i can go to bed really late and wake 4 hrs later and cant get back to sleep so ifeel like crap for the whole day ..

JillUser

on Sep 07, 2004

Sally, I think I would have an easier time getting up if I thought I could get a nap in but as they say "Mothers of boys work from Son up till Son down". I have no hope of more sleep until my boys go to bed at night. But I do appreciate the solidarity BTW, I don't see your method as a bad habit at all. Sounds very healthy to me. They say exercise is most beneficial when done in the morning.

Doomagoth, I have "just done it" many times. I still have to fight like crazy with myself and fall back into the old habits far too easily. I am usually asleep around 2AM and get up at 7:30. I don't function well with less than 7.5-8 hrs of sleep though. I know some people do well with much less and I envy that.

new-age nomad

on Sep 07, 2004

I dunno. I've always been a morning person, never able to sleep past 9....

I do think it's a wonderful thing, but don't knock your sleeping habits. Some of us were meant to watch the sunrise, and some of us were meant to watch our dreams.

That's my take.

Trinitie

Anthony R

on Sep 07, 2004

Do What I do, I just convince myself that I will have lots of time to sleep when I am dead, and then I feel motivated to get up

JillUser

on Sep 07, 2004

Some of us were meant to watch the sunrise

I usually only see this when I stay up rather than get up for it

Anthony, I will have to try to convince myself of that.

crimson

on Sep 08, 2004

My body has become accustomed to getting up early... even on night shifts I still automatically wake up by 7:30 am. My brain though, just wants that five minutes more, too. Although, I think back to BK (before kid) when I could sleep in past 1:00pm and can't even begin to fathom that, now. I agree with Sally though, nap time is amazing, and I'm glad that I can still convince/successfully threaten Kole to have one every once in awhile!

Texas Wahine

on Sep 08, 2004

Jill: I hear ya.

I love to sleep, and I absolutely hate getting up early. I need lots of sleep in order to function (7 or 8 hours is a minimum), and I always mess my sleep schedule up by staying up late.

My kids don't like mornings, either. We get up as late as possible. I get up around 7:10 and put clothes on and brush my teeth and hair, and then get my kids up at around 7:20. We scramble to get ready, and then I walk him to school looking like the undead (me, not them . . . they're pretty much always cute). I wish I were one of those moms that gets up and has her make up on and a hot breakfast waiting for the kids. It's not meant to be, though.

You can become a morning person, though . . . my husband used to be just like me, but the Army fixed him and now he can get up early and work on very, very little sleep. So if you REALLY wanna change your sleep pattern, just join the military. Should work beautifully.

JillUser

on Sep 14, 2004

So if you REALLY wanna change your sleep pattern, just join the military

I don't want to be a morning person that bad!

I know that somewhere in my subconcious I have decided that it just isn't worth it to get up early or I would.

TW, glad to hear I'm not the only zombie in the AM

MartialDoc

on Sep 27, 2004

Jill,
I think a lot of people, including myself, wish we were morning people and are not. I'm only 25 and have no kids... and I still party a lot during the weekend. But then, during the week, I have to drive to school, an hour away, and be there by 9.
What I first started doing was getting up around 6:45 but I was always rushed. I then felt like crap by the time I got to school. So, I now get up at 6. I don't rush things... I go very slow. I just let my body warm up until it's ready to go.
The best thing to do is to have some water first thing when you wake up. Warm water preferably... this allows your body to start to get going.
Anyways, I don't have kids so I don't know if this would work for a mother. But, hey, just thought I'd give some advice since that's what it looks like you want

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