I have recently conquered my inability to go to bed at night and fall asleep (using many methods you describe here, though I discovered them on my own), but it has been a bitter success since I STILL can’t get up in the morning. This now means that I sleep about 9-12 hours every night.

I am going to use your technique of “practicing”, by going down for a nap and setting the alarm clock for a couple minutes later. This is the most realistic, sound advice I’ve heard yet (for me), and I hope that it will help me forge a new habit of getting up with the clock. I am afraid though that even after a shower and dressing, I will find myself back in bed within the hour (I think somebody else mentioned this problem too!). In all other respects, I have always had strong self-discipline, but I can’t seem to shake sleep for a good hour or two after waking, and I seem to have no control over my thoughts and actions during that time. I’ve been this way since I was a small child, and it’s frustrating. It’s especially frustrating to be successfully self-disciplined in so many other areas of my life, but to meet with continual failure every morning. It’s wearing down my confidence in myself, and I have to fix it soon.

I think that making a very long morning routine may help me, along with the “practicing”. If I can get past the first 2 hours and still be awake, then my chances of staying that way are good. The problem is that it’s hard to come up with stuff to do that will keep me awake for that long. I love to read a novel with a cup of coffee every morning (it’s my absolute favourite thing to do after getting up) , but experience has proven that if I’m too tired, reading turns into a nap on the couch, and the coffee goes cold.

Do you have any other advice? I’d sure love to hear it!

So my question is : At 28 years old, how do I end the desire to stay up all hours of the night? I know I could just go lay in bed, but the desire to stay awake is very real. The desire to not want to waste the next day sleeping is real too, though. grrrrrrrrrrrrr I’m not even making any sense probably. I’m such a mess from not having any work to do. I need self-discipline! [/rant]

::smokes cigarette::

In a rare fit of self-discipline, I finally decided bite the bullet and start getting up early (before 6:00). So, for the last two weeks, I’ve been getting up around 5:30 and working for a couple of hours first thing in the morning. It’s been great f…

Your self discovered method is actually the advice a professional should give people with getting up in the morning. My doctor has some qualifications in psycology etc.

as for me im still working on it :/

its 5:30am..

Will you help me? Your method does not work for me. I make myself get up at 6 every day, and by 11-12 my eyes are drooping. I lull in and out of conciousness but I keep control. By 2 I am once again fully awake. I remain fully awake until well past 12. Is tehre any way to get rid of this?

Thanks

I’d like to know what kinds of “tests” for being really ready for bed other people have. I can fall asleep within a couple of minutes any time any where. But I have never drifted off while reading a book, no matter how late I stay up reading.

Maybe movies. I’ve fallen alseep while watching movies before. Maybe when I’m too tired to read the subtitles on a foreign film I’m ready for bed.

Fix a cotton reel bobbin to the key at the back.
Get two pieces of string, tie them both to a brick.
Put the brick on top of your wardrobe, near the edge.
Tie one piece of the string string to the corner of your duvet
Wrap the other piece around the cotton reel on your alarm clock.

Now when the alarm clock goes off, the key on the back will rotate causing the cotton reel to wind the string in. The brick will fall off the wardrobe causing your duvet to be pulled off you.

Similar devices can be constructed with buckets of water etc if you just absolutely have to get up and don’t have time for a shower.

Your body sets it’s clock by the pineal gland. This pulses, literally like a clock. It measures the light to your eyes and decides whether it is day or night.

In old women, the pineal gland can become calcified and no-longer work. This is why old ladies often wander about at night.

Here is the bad news. Sitting in front of a computer screen feeding light into your eyes is not going to tell youe pineal gland that it is time to sleep.

I recommend switching off the PC an hour before bedtime (I know it hurts). Dim the lights the room. Reading is good. Use a reading lamp rather than illuminating the whole room.

Also, do you snore? Disturbing your own sleep (even though you may not know it) may cause you to be sleepy in the morning.
Sleep apnoea which is related to snoring may even cause you to stop breathing for short periods which can lead to heart failure, as well as making you sleepy due to oxygen starvation during the night.

Your doctor can give you a simple heart monitor to test if you suffer from this.