what is the first thing you would do immediately after waking up to prevent yourself from sleeping again?

Put my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up. :) Getting back in is taboo!

You could always get one of these if you’re having trouble getting yourself out of bed in the morning.

I put my alarm clock on the other side of the room. That worked until I discovered how easy it is to stumble over to it, turn it off, stumble back to my bed, and fall right back to sleep.

@gorillapaws—Is that thing for real? It would make me wake up laughing every day!

I must have it.

Drink some coffee-instant coffee

((( alarm ))) – no snooze, hit Alarm Off – remove covers – get up – take a shower.

Whatever you do that works for you, enforce the routine mentally. Don’t allow yourself to vary from that plan. Stick to it M-F, allow yourself some respite on Sa and/or Su.

splash cold water in face

Start thinking about what you have to do that day. If I have a busy or stressful day ahead, this usually gets me out of bed.

Kill yourself. You’ll never sleep again.

I stand up. It seriously decreases my chances of falling back asleep.

I check my cell phone and see if I have any text messages or emails. Good text messages wake me up in the morning! Now the bad ones make me want to go back to sleep! LOL.

I have a really hard time waking up in the morning, and sleep through my alarm. While it sounds like getting up and moving around would be helpful, if you can do it, I have other tricks I use when I absolutely need to get up.

I put a caffeine pill and and a glass of water in front of the alarm clock in a way that requires I move the glass of water to turn off the alarm. When I pick up the glass, I pop the caffeine pill, drink a swing of water, and go back to sleep. 20 minutes later, I’m awake.

if you’re deaf.. Take a shower every night and tell yourself to wake up early in the morning. So that way I got myself up, no alarm or anything. It takes practices so u can have good timing. :)

@sisa, dunno about being deaf myself, but I agree that the whole “tell yourself to wake up” at such-and-such a time works remarkably well for me… usually within 5 minutes of my goal, and on the early side… well until recently that is.

Still it’s crazy cool when it does work.

Never use it for early flights or exams, though. ;-D

have five alarms going off by the fifth one your annoyed and awake :p what a way to start the day huh ;p

Whee, what a question. Discipline, I suppose. Discipline isn’t something you’re born with, either. It’s practiced. Every moment of every day. But in the end you’re being accountable to yourself. If you can’t, ask yourself why.

I know I have to get out of bed, I know I have to do it at that moment or I’ll be late for work. I need a longer startup period than a lot of people. In general conversations, I notice a trend that women tend to want the extra time in the mornings than a lot of men. They mostly seem all right with flying out of bed, putting on clothes and heading out the door.

I need coffee, I need time, I need to not feel rushed. I know this about myself, and so I have disciplined myself to not fall back asleep or hit the snooze button. It’s a conscious choice that I make to ensure that it will set a positive tone for the day.

While it may appear that I overanalyze the situation, it’s necessary for me to know what makes me tick and what helps to make me productive.

Your mileage may vary.

I just noticed that you have insomnia listed as one of the descriptors. Naturally it will be difficult to get out of bed in a timely fashion if you haven’t gotten a decent night’s rest.

Every now and then I suffer from periods of insomnia. There’s nothing more unpleasant than lying in bed, looking at the clock and saying to yourself, “All right, if I fall asleep RIGHT NOW, I’ll have six hours of sleep.” Then a half hour later, “All right, if I fall asleep RIGHT NOW, I’ll have five and a half hours of sleep.” Until the last time you can remember saying that you’ll have three hours of sleep before the blasted alarm goes off.

If it’s short term insomnia, I suggest you just ride it out, but if it’s goes on to the point that parts of your life are suffering because of it, then get yourself to the doctor to check for medical or possible psychological causes.

You owe it to yourself.

I listen to music, music that I really like. It works best if its a new piece of music, as I’m excited to hear it and wake up. It’s far more powerful than any stimulant like caffeine.

@peedub – I find that if I listen to music in the morning whatever I choose really colours my whole day (end up humming it in my head) so I am quite wary of what I pick. Usually I prefer no music.

I usually wake up pretty alert; even if I didn’t get enough sleep. The trick for me is to head out of the door to do tai chi before my brain registered that I am awake and decides to go back to sleep. Then tai chi is fine. I agree with robmandu, it’s about figuring out a routine and making it a habit until your body/mind is up on autopilot.

If I’m REALLY tired then I take a shower and stretch. That wakes me up.

I’ve always wanted to learn tai chi [and do it in the morning].

alarm clock on the other side of room, that plays something OBNOXIOUS really really loud, and then immediately brush my teeth

i moved my bed right next to my lightswitch, so i turn the lights on right away. and, i use a really loud ringtone (the yelling part of “hey jude” by the beatles) as an alarm each morning. that usually wakes me up. and then i do yoga right away, and by the time i’m at warior pose, i’m ready for the day. =]

I’m late to the discussion but CLOCKY IS FRICKING AMAZING. I’ve had two sleep disorders for the past seven years, and it is a lifesaver.

I use set my stereo’s alarm clock, so when it goes off it plays a really awesome song that I just can’t stop myself from dancing like a fool! I set the volume really high so I can’t tune it out and then I turn on all my lights so I feel like I’m dancing in the spotlight!

After all that I go through my normal morning routine!