Waking up when alarm goes of.. does it really work?

[righteousbabe]

Hi all.

I googled info on waking up when the alarm goes off and came across Steve's article on the wake up topic. So, forgive me if I'm not familiar with Steve... I was just searching for answers.

I got fired yesterday for being repeatedly tardy to work. By "tardy" I mean generally 5 minutes or so. Occasionally closer to 10. Sometimes I was early. Now, this is nothing new (the being late thing), it's been that way ALL OF MY LIFE, but this is the first time for me to be fired over it. Most places have overlooked it because I'm a very good worker, don't return late from lunch or breaks, never call in sick, will work through breaks and work overtime, etc. This was a temp job, that was supposed to go permanent after 3 months, and after 2 months they canned me for this...

I can make excuses/argue: the clocks there were consistently 7 minutes ahead of every clock in the "real world" (my cable box, my cell phone, my internet provider, the bank, the radio), but the fact is, I was too late too often for this company to tolerate and now I don't have a job... a job that was actually tolerable and paid well.

My whole life I've had this problem. In high school, once I had my own car, my mom eventually stopped trying to get me up because it would make HER late for work to try and wake me, and as a result I lost credits and had to attend summer school (which I paid for with money from my afterschool job) three summers in a row! Not consequence enough I guess.

When I attended jr. college, I scheduled ALL my classes no earlier than 10 am, and had no problem getting there on time. I attended vocational school that had a set schedule (8 to 4) and that was rough and I was late a lot, but when I completed the course I made sure to apply for jobs that had later start times, (9:30 , 10:00, 11:00 am). I did have an 8 to 5 job for a year that was an hour from my house, and I was consistently arriving at 8:15, but my boss there didn't care and it was never an issue.

For the past 2 years I had a job where I worked exclusively from home. So yeah, my "discipline" muscle is dead. I worked whenever I wanted, as long as I put in the required hours (8 to 12 per day) they didn't care. Of course, I regularly woke late when needing to get my kids up for school... so it wasn't like I'd "solved" the problem.

So, yeah, my problem is getting up when the alarm goes off. First, I don't HEAR any alarm I've tried. There is no "hitting the snooze" because the thing can go off for 30 minutes, 2 inches from my head,and I will sleep like a baby. For some reason I do respond to a loud phone sound, so I've often used this when I HAD to get up.

So I got this job and originally took it because it was to be 10am to 7pm, but a few weeks into the training (which was 8 to 5), they asked us.. pressured us even.. to take an 8 to 5 slot instead, because they had very few 10 to 7 openings. Since I'd been managing fine to get there on time during training (and I was quite proud of myself), I reasoned that I'd be "okay" to do 8 to 5, but it seems within a couple weeks my old ways returned.

I did try really hard. For this past job, in fact, I purchased an "old school" rotary phone with a loud metal bell ringer, and then added a ringer amplifier, the kind marketed to hard-of-hearing seniors. You can hear this sucker from across the street. This DID wake me up... but too many times, like yesterday when I was fired, I got up, picked up the receiver, then stumbled BACK to bed thinking I'd wake to the alarm on my cell phone (placed next to my head)... only to wake in horror 30 minutes later, having never heard the "secondary" alarm on the cell.

Some days I'd be fine and get up and stay up... mostly on those days I got to bed by 11 the night before (needing to wake up at 6:40). One little thing.. a kid with a nightmare, neighbor noise waking me, not getting to bed until midnight, and I would screw up the next morning. It doesn't seem "concious". When I am thinking, at 6:40, that I can go lie down for just a few more minutes, that's all I really intend to do. I am rationalizing that I could get up as late as 7 and still be okay and my sleepy brain is saying "you will get up in a few minutes, go for it"... then I find myself waking when I should be LEAVING the house, with no way in hell of making it. In fact yesterday that's exactly what happened, and I walked in to work at 8:06, which was my kiss of death apparently.

The whole point of my long post is to ask if this method really works (that of "practicing" and training yourself, Pavlov style, to get up)..? Because I need something. I feel like utter garbage now... I am 35 years old and cannot manage to have a "grown up" job and keep it? I mean really.

Advice, comments appreciated.

[Dan.Linehan]

The best companies tend to say something along the lines of "Be here by noon, work forty hours." Yes, I work in IT.

But there was a study published in the Times this week as well that showed that later school start times improved test scores, attendance & general student well-being. So its not just you. Some people get more done as early rises, some people don't.

Why not look for a job that starts later? Or better yet, just work for yourself.

[wulph]

Righteousbabe,

I struggle daily with this same issue. I'll sleep through multiple LOUD alarms for several hours. I've been known to get out of bed, walk across the room, turn off the alarm, and go back to bed without ever having woken up. Like you, I have trouble dealing with the responsibility of holding down a "real job" or planning a morning meeting, and it can be hugely frustrating.

Here are some things that have helped me:

1. Don't ever snooze. When you're groggy in the morning, the most logical and enticing thing is to sleep some more. It's as compelling as "just one more hit of crack." Hop in the shower right away, do some calisthenics, or whatever wakes you up.

2. Consistent wake time. Don't sleep in on the weekends! That will only confuse your body and make it impossible to retrain yourself.

3. Melatonin. Since my issue is a delayed circadian rhythm, I've found a small dose of melatonin (3mg max) about 1/2 hour before bedtime really helps. I avoid using it long-term, but rather just for a couple weeks to re-align my cycle.

4. Get up at 5 a.m. Instead of trying to reprogram yourself to get up at 7, attack it with "overwhelming force" by getting up at 5 each day. This provides a 2-hour Buffer, so if you do oversleep, it's not devastating. IMPORTANT: avoid relying on this buffer. It's way too easy to start getting up later and later each day "because you can."

5. Plan something super-fun to do when you wake up on time. It's so much easier to get out of bed if you have something to look forward to, instead of another day of work. If you oversleep, you don't get to do your fun thing.

6. Avoid caffeine. I've found that even a cup of coffee in the morning will mess up my sleep/wake the following night. I still use nicotine (3 yrs. on the gum) and I imagine that's not helping me either.

7. Relaxation exercises. Worrying about getting up late seems to make it more likely. Breathing exercises, meditation, self-hypnosis, etc. at bedtime help to give you better sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

Diet and exercise are also important; but don't exercise right before bedtime. Good luck with your project!

[righteousbabe]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

The best companies tend to say something along the lines of "Be here by noon, work forty hours." Yes, I work in IT.

But there was a study published in the Times this week as well that showed that later school start times improved test scores, attendance & general student well-being. So its not just you. Some people get more done as early rises, some people don't.

Why not look for a job that starts later? Or better yet, just work for yourself.

Thanks for replying. I always have (worked later start times) but I also have noticed that later start times are harder and harder to find. I could manage 9 though. Even 8:30 if it wasn't too far away. I am focusing on that in my job search.. but I guess I just thought "I SHOULD be able to do this" and I'm beating myself up right now for failing.

In addition, I do need to get control of this, because my kids have consistently been late for school for YEARS! They've always attended private or charter schools where it was overlooked. Thankfully. But what are they learning from me? Neither one can wake up on their own (they are 15 and 10)... and until I "train" them to do so (when I cannot get up myself??) I am the one that needs to be up to get them up. So even without the 8 am job I still gotta be up by 7:00 and no later and today, my first day fired, I slept until 9:00!


One of the reasons I talked myself into this 8 to 5 thing is because it gives me more time with my kids. If I get off at 7, and get home at 7:30, and they go to bed by 9:30 or 10, it means less time with them.. but now it means Mom is jobless so I guess I should have gone for the 10 to 7. I don't hold out any hopes but since there ARE 10 to 7 options in this job I just got fired from, I'm going to beg the temp agency to see if they'd (the company) consider allowing me back on that shift, because there were no other issues with my performance. I was never late back from lunch or break, my production was high, my errors non-existent, etc.

Not sure what I could do to work for myself. I did it, in the past, running an eBay business from home but it was lean.. I made just enough money (most of the time) to pay my bills and no more.

I am planning on going back to school: having no degree, only a couple semesters of college and a lot of clerical experience limits my ability to be picky, and most jobs that meet my skills are 8 to 5 types. So, I've been thinking, what can I focus on in school (career wise) where I won't be stuck in this sort of rigid time thing in the future? What's a good career for a semi-night owl?

[wulph]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Why not look for a job that starts later? Or better yet, just work for yourself.

I took both those avenues. The later job was nice for awhile, but it eats up your whole day and that got old. And as a business owner, it's incredibly embarrassing to miss a morning meeting because you overslept.

[righteousbabe]

Wulph;

Thanks for the suggestions. A friend of mine also mentioned melatonin. I will try it.

While getting a later starting job is not "the answer", I probably DO need a job where no one watches the clock THAT closely. I mean, I don't think 5 minutes is termination-worthy and hopefully other employers won't either when other aspects of your performance are good. Especially when their clocks are fast. In fact, at this job I just had, there were two big rooms of cubicles.. one for the 10 to 7 shift, one for the 8 to 5 shift. Big gov't looking clocks in both rooms, and the rooms are about 15 feet apart, separated by a hallway... and the time difference was 5 minutes between the two rooms! So I was on time in the other room where we had training, then "late" in the next room once we were assigned our permanent desks!

Caffeine? My love. My life. I'm scared at the prospect of giving up my morning double shot cappuccino!

I have read up on the circadian rhythm thing too and wonder if that might be me...

Consistent wake time: this one is HARD!!! When I manage to wake up all week by 6:40 or whatever, I am sooooo sleepy by Friday, but I usually push bedtime back to midnite to do things I feel I can't do during the week due to having to go to bed, then every saturday I sleep until 9, no matter what, or later.. and it screws EVERYTHING up. Virtually guarantees I'll be late monday. I think that deep down this is rebellion. When I have to go to bed at 10 or 11pm I feel like a little kid who is 'missing something'. Favorite TV shows that don't come on until 10pm, parties that friends invite me to... I tried to have a "date night" with my significant other one friday and we made it through dinner and that's it. By 9:30 pm I was half asleep and we had to go home, no movie, nothing else.

I guess I'm feeling like my whole life is work work work and that's silly, because I worked 60 hours a week in my previous job (the telecommute one) and didn't feel so "cheated" because I set my schedule.

Getting up at 5: I tried a variation of this. Realistically I didn't "need" to be up until 7 to be able to be at work on time (though with some rushing). So I tried waking at 6:30. I don't get why it worked for a few weeks though, then started going downhill? Since I 'knew' I could put off getting up until 7, the problem started... and oversleeping to 7:10 or even 7:15 wouldn't have been the end of the world, but oversleeping until 7:30 was!

I have no clue on a "fun thing". Will have to think hard on that one!

It is so true that worrying makes it worse. Every time I am getting to bed way too late and stressing (I've been known to just stay up the whole night instead of risking it!)... it is almost guaranteed that I will oversleep...

It is awful, because when I am walking back to my bed after answering the phone "alarm" I am partially thinking "It's just a few more minutes" but the other part of me is saying "noooooo! don't give in", yet I do. I would so love to wake up and not be tired!!!

[wulph]

Oh.. you were looking for something EASY? Well that's simple:

Have your SO wake you up at 7. If you don't get out of bed, he gets to drench you with ice water.



(I'm half kidding but I betcha it'd work)

[righteousbabe]

Originally Posted by wulph

Oh.. you were looking for something EASY? Well that's simple:

Have your SO wake you up at 7. If you don't get out of bed, he gets to drench you with ice water.



(I'm half kidding but I betcha it'd work)

LOL, no, my SO is just as bad as me and works the evening shift, doesn't get home at 1 or 2 am.. so no help there.

[Tasaio]

Wow, that's ridiculous. Firing you for being 5-10 minutes late?

Hey, if they keep that up, they won't have any workers left.

More seriously, don't beat yourself up over this. More and more people are showing up late. You aren't alone.

What separates you from these other people is that you're actively trying to change your habits--that already puts you one step ahead.

The next step, is to stop feeling guilty.

Think about it--if you were in charge of a company, would you prefer a worker who

(a) produces good work, and is occasionally 5-10 minutes late

-or-

(b) produces mediocre work, and is never late

Realistically who cares what time you start working? As long as you get a reasonable amount of work done, and you don't hold up anyone else, the time you actually begin doesn't matter.

If you don't mind me saying so, you appear to be caught between blaming yourself and blaming your company. Your post suggests incredulity at your being fired--yet you then go on to blame yourself.

If this company was so unreasonable that they would fire you for being 5-10 minutes late...then would you really want a permanent position there? Their irrationality would translate into all sorts of ridiculous policies, eventually. It sounds like you're better off elsewhere.

* * *

As for getting up when your alarm goes off--yes, I can testify that it does indeed work. I went from being totally nocturnal, to getting up at 6:00 AM every morning.

Also, training yourself to respond to your alarm subconsciously, using Steve' Pavlov-esque method, should end this problem of sleeping through your alarm.

The most important thing is to be patient, to do a little bit of training every day, and to not give up in frustartion. Good luck!

[righteousbabe]

Originally Posted by Tasaio

Wow, that's ridiculous. Firing you for being 5-10 minutes late?

Hey, if they keep that up, they won't have any workers left.

More seriously, don't beat yourself up over this. More and more people are showing up late. You aren't alone.

What separates you from these other people is that you're actively trying to change your habits--that already puts you one step ahead.

The next step, is to stop feeling guilty.

Think about it--if you were in charge of a company, would you prefer a worker who

(a) produces good work, and is occasionally 5-10 minutes late

-or-

(b) produces mediocre work, and is never late

Realistically who cares what time you start working? As long as you get a reasonable amount of work done, and you don't hold up anyone else, the time you actually begin doesn't matter.

If you don't mind me saying so, you appear to be caught between blaming yourself and blaming your company. Your post suggests incredulity at your being fired--yet you then go on to blame yourself.

If this company was so unreasonable that they would fire you for being 5-10 minutes late...then would you really want a permanent position there? Their irrationality would translate into all sorts of ridiculous policies, eventually. It sounds like you're better off elsewhere.

* * *

As for getting up when your alarm goes off--yes, I can testify that it does indeed work. I went from being totally nocturnal, to getting up at 6:00 AM every morning.

Also, training yourself to respond to your alarm subconsciously, using Steve' Pavlov-esque method, should end this problem of sleeping through your alarm.

The most important thing is to be patient, to do a little bit of training every day, and to not give up in frustartion. Good luck!

Thanks! I was hoping to hear that I can "train" myself this way.

As for the job.. you are right. I am in the middle on this. On the one hand, I think the clock-cops are ridiculous. On the other hand, I KNEW that they were this way and I still didn't get up. Ridiculous or not, I was aware of their strictness on the issue and I didn't toe the line. I had "heard" rumors of another person fired for the same reason, but "all of us" (coworkers) rationalized that the person must have had other issues as well... but I am proof that it might not have been the case!

If I owned a company, I would prefer the hard worker who was a bit late. In fact, in a previous job I was in a supervisory position, but in charge of volunteers... and I was never bothered by the ones that were 5 or 10 minutes late. It was the ones who were 30 minutes late, or the ones who didn't show up, or the ones who came on time but proceeded to be on their cell phone the entire time that bothered me the most.

I had heard that attendance was a biggie here, but everyone sort of took that to mean missing days. In fact, I spoke with a supervisor who said "Well I don't think they'd fire for tardiness. Absences sure, but not tardiness!" Guess he didn't know what he was talking about.. because I didn't haveONE absence, whereas others were repeatedly out for the day (and are still there). Ironic. He was the same supervisor (previously my boss) who said he was fine with "8ish" then proceeded to turn in reports on me for 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes late. For everyone, in fact... others were complaining about this too, but I don't know if others were terminated over it.

Anyway, I wasn't planning on working here forever, but it WAS a good paying job, 3 or 4 dollars an hour more than the average for similar jobs, and overall fairly low stress with nice co-workers. It wasn't a "career" place for me but it would have done wonders to get me out of debt until I go back to school or found something that was more "me", less "monkey". It's hard, with my experience/skill level, to walk into a job paying that well. I wasn't going to get rich but it was a lot more than my last job for sure. Like almost double!

The REALLY frustrating thing? Our task at this job was processing images for a gov't agency. Almost EVERY morning we'd start the day with no work, and our actual production hours were something like 4 out of every 8 we were paid for. Nice to be paid to sit there, but c'mon! It is NOT like I was missing doing anything productive by being 5-10 minutes late! If I'd been there, I'd have signed in then been reading my email, getting coffee, chatting with my cubicle neighbor, or organizing my desk. There were no options for "busy work" in the slow times, everyone was just sitting, waiting for work to do. Of course you had to keep clicking to get more images/documents, part of what we were paid for, but pretty much everyone was doing this while they read email, or chatted, or whatever.

So yeah, it frustrated me to bust my butt to get there only to have nothing to do for the first hour or two of each day.

[standgale]

Hi,
Although you sound like you really do want to get up early and not be late, you also sound a little reluctant to implement all of the methods for ensuring it - getting up at the same time in the weekends for instance. And of course giving up coffee.
I perfectly understand your reluctance in these things, but I think that you will not get anywhere with your goal - at least not permanently - until you let go of those things and just do everything in your power to change the habit. Otherwise you'll end up subconsciously sabotaging your own efforts. When you do succeed in making the new habit, perhaps you can try adding some things you took out back in and see what happens, if you wish.
You sound very sensible, and you sound like you know what you have to do, and you understand the advice given - now you just have to do it! I know what that feels like, the difficulty in getting started, a little bit afraid perhaps, it's easier to go not change. But you can do it if you decide to! Good luck

[ricky]

Training yourself to get up when the alarm goes off really works. Here's how I "programmed" myself.
In the evening time, whenever I was free, I would turn lights off and set the alarm to go off in one minute or so and close my eyes and lie there like I would if I was sleeping. As soon as the alarm went off, I would get up, turn the alarm off, turn the lights on, go to the washroom, go through the actions of brushing my teeth and whatever else you want to. Basically I would not just get up with the alarm but would go through my whole morning routine (but done much faster and mimicking the actions i.e. pretending I am brushing my teeth instead of actually brushing them).
I would often do this at least 10 times in a row, one after the other. So, I would set alarms to go off in 1 minute, then 3, then 5, then 7 and so on.
I did this for a few days and it got embedded in my subconscious so much that every time the alarm would go off in the mornings, I would find myself automatically just jumping off the bed and going through my routine.
It takes a little bit of work but once you do it for a little while it'll become automatic and you don't have to worry about it.
Good luck

[seeker5]

The whole point of my long post is to ask if this method really works (that of "practicing" and training yourself, Pavlov style, to get up)..?

Considering that the method is 100% free, with no commitment and no purchase for you to do, why not try it yourself to see if you can get it to work for you?

[ricky]

Originally Posted by seeker5

Considering that the method is 100% free, with no commitment and no purchase for you to do, why not try it yourself to see if you can get it to work for you?

Exactly. Don't spend too much time thinking. Just try it for yourself. It worked for me.

[Permafrost]

I too have a deep seated rebellion when I try to force the issue of waking up early. All my life I've been blessed with managers who completely overlook lateness in favor of my superior work . I don't think I'd work for anyone that anal to begin with...

I say you have an incongruent belief about waking up early that you need to resolve. I did too. You either believe that:

A. Successful people wake up early, get things accomplished, have the discipline to overcome their weakenesses, etc. -or-

B. You're a night owl or at least NOT a morning person and never will be. Morning people are on crack that you will never understand...

I firmly fall into the second category. I COULD train myself to wake up early, sure, but I'd resent life while doing it. I'd almost lose a bit of respect for myself... I like sleeping in and will move mountains to allow that lifestyle. Please do some soul searching and figure out whether you deeply believe A or B and then give up the guilt and love it.

[Ralph]

There's a very simple method that worked for me when I started getting up at 5 a.m.

When the alarm goes off, start thinking "get up, get up!!!" inside of your head as intense and loud as you can. I don't know about you, but it makes me get up without even thinking about it. All I think about is to yell inside of my head.
Doing so, you block other thoughts from coming in. Thoughts that paralyze you, like "just a few more minutes"

[Calisto]

righteousbabe,

I have an even simpler one and it works perfectly for me. Every night, when preparing to go to sleep, tell yourself what time you want to get up. Say it like you were asking someone, "Wake me at 7am" or whatever time you want to get up. And remember, give it time to work.

[Ninja]

Perhaps you should look into alarms for deaf people? Flashing lights, vibrating matrasses, that sort of thing. Perhaps sound just doesn't do it for you? I have the same problem, but I'm becoming better at 'willing' myself out of bed now that I have a light that mimicks the rising sun. It works better on weekdays though: during weekends, my body 'knows' I don't have places to go and falls asleep again.

[slinky]

I usually wake up when I hear the alarm, but I just lie there instead of getting up, or I get up and lie back down again. I used to think that I was tardy because I didn't really like what I was doing, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm just as late to fun activities, like watching a movie or ordering the lunch special at a restaurant. The real problem might be inertia, or maybe even my fun activities are not fun enough.

[wbuch]

It does work. Every time I've tried it, it's worked for me.

But instead of soliciting all this advice, why not try it yourself?? What is the cost to you of just attempting it? You could have had it done by now.

[Dbarker]

Originally Posted by ricky

Training yourself to get up when the alarm goes off really works.

Yes it does. I found out that I needed to do it every couple of nights just to reprogram myself. Then it seemed easy.

[Ninja]

What I've also found helpfull, was not eating as much in the evening. Hunger motivates me to make breakfast and I fall asleep more easily too.

[Developer]

Just follow the article.

Alarm goes off.
Sit up.
Stretch.
Feet on floor.
Stand up.
Don't get back in bed.

Do this every single day, including weekends. After a while it just happens automatically.

Worked for me, anyway. You might also want to read the article about getting rid of morning groggyness. (Most important points: Eat better, exercise, get rid of caffeine)

[wbuch]

Originally Posted by Developer

Just follow the article.

Alarm goes off.
Sit up.
Stretch.
Feet on floor.
Stand up.
Don't get back in bed.

Do this every single day, including weekends. After a while it just happens automatically.

Worked for me, anyway. You might also want to read the article about getting rid of morning groggyness. (Most important points: Eat better, exercise, get rid of caffeine)

And also for the steps...don't think. If you allow yourself to think, you might think you need to get back in bed.

[Faith]

A funny thing happened to me when I was visiting my mom over Christmas. I was sleeping in her double bed with her. We had to get up early one morning, so she set the alarm. When it went off, she got up, turned it off, and started getting dressed. The thought went through my head, like I just had a great revelation: "Oh, that's how it's done!"

This comes, of course, after reading Steve's blogs about practicing getting up to the alarm clock, and wondering if that would really make a difference for a person who has spent years hitting the the snooze button when my alarm goes off every morning. In fact, I've intentionally set my alarm about an hour before I have to get up, just so I can hit the snooze button without being late for work.

Somehow, seeing my mom just get up when her alarm went off really made an impression on me. I'm thinking I need to incorporate that image into my own attempts to be an early riser. And I laugh, every time I remember thinking, "Oh, that's how it's done!"

Faith

[Keith]

I just had to point this out:
The Green Head - 113 dB Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock and Bed Shaker

[ricky]

I still say the best way is to try something instead of thinking about it too much. You'll know by your own experience if something works or not.
Maybe you just don't have the motivation or desire to try it out. In that case, you should try asking yourself why you want to get up early in the morning.
Several good suggestions were given by other people here i.e. all successful people wake up early etc but I think you have to find the "why" that's closer to you instead of in a general and a broader sense.
For example, getting fired for being late is a big why and your children being late to school because of you is another big why...
Take some time and write down why you want to get up early. But even that requires you to take some sort of action.
With all due respect, have you thought that maybe you're just lazy.
That was my problem so I had to take care of that before attempting other areas of my life.
It's much better to know where you stand because that gives you a starting point. And with a little bit of ambition, you can only improve.

[GrannyGamer]

Actually, for me, getting up when the alarm goes off has been far easier than I'd ever have believed -- and I didn't do half the stuff Steve suggested.

I'm nearing 60 and for most of my working life (40 years!) I've been self employed and set my own (very flexible) hours. If I felt like sleeping in, I could. Well, I did. The problem was, in the last few years, I've been sleeping in later and later. Lately, I would sleep until 10 or 11 and be draggy the rest of the day.

I normally stay up until 2 or 3, so I get 8 hours, but getting up late like that threw my whole day off.

I tried getting up earlier but I'd hit that snooze button so many times I think I got repetitive motion syndrome from it! Actually, I usually just turned it off after the 4th or 5th whack. Or, I'd lie in bed trying to convince myself to get up. I often spent an hour or more in useless 'brain yakking.' So, not only didn't I get up, but I didn't sleep either. What a waste.

I've tried for years to get up earlier and become a "rise and shine" person, with no luck. Late last year (yup ... in prep for New Years Resolution time!) I searched out as much info on the 'net as I could, including Steve's blog articles.

On January 2 (oh please, you didn't really expect me to start on January 1, did you???) I set my alarm for 8:21 and the second it went off, I jumped out of bed. Following Steve's advice, I didn't allow myself to even think about it. No brain yakking, no snooze button. Out of bed and stumble to the bathroom. NO NO ... don't go back to bed. Dress, stumble out to the kitchen.

After a few days of this, it really did become easier. Just don't think. DO. Now -- just 23 days later -- I'm actually waking up at 8:15 or so, several minutes before the alarm goes off. I don't wait. I roll out, turn it off, and get going. I still don't go to bed until 1 or so, which means I'm getting less sleep, but it doesn't seem to bother me (I do take a 20-minute nap in the afternoon). I've even had less trouble with my restless leg syndrome although I don't know if that's related. Eventually, I'll back it up to 8, then 7:30 and then, well, who knows?

Note that I did NOT 'rehearse' or practice getting up, nor did I try to analyze why I was sleeping in. (I'm not saying these are bad things to do, just that they aren't always necessary.) I just decided that for 30-days, I would do it (and believe me, I normally am not noted for my self discipline!).

Now, if it would only work as well with my diet!!!

Anyway, good luck and know that we're here rooting for you. Let us know how you progress in your struggle.

[maserin]

Hi-- sounds like you and I are kindred spirits here. I'm 25 and have a job that doesn't really interest me but, fortunately, my boss is great. He is more of the "as long as she's getting her work done, I don't care" mindset. After 3 months of not coming into work at a consistent time, and veering wildly all over the map at that (some days it would be 9 AM, some days 11 AM, some days 1 PM!!!), I got an email today from my boss saying that it is "imperative that [I] get organized" and reminding me of my responsibilities at work.

Let me tell you, I have wanted to shrink to the size of my pinky toe all day long... it is indeed very embarrassing. For so long now I have been rationalizing my behavior by telling myself that if I have gotten away with it for so long, my work performance must be good enough that nobody cares. I think I was testing my boss by coming in later and later... those few days where I would come in past noon, I wasn't treated any different than those where I wouldn't. This, of course, was very destructive and childish behavior , and I just ended up feeling stronger pangs of guilt each time I'd come in later. For awhile I dreamed of taking a job that would require me to punch in with a card, even if it meant a big cut in pay, just to flex my discipline muscle. But then I realized that that would be terribly demoralizing. I even had a very close friend and coworker who doesn't suffer from this problem offer to give me a wake up call every morning, which I didn't take him up on for the same reason. The only thing worse than realizing that you have a problem is believing that you are incapable of fixing it with your own earnest efforts! Not to say that we should never accept help from others, but when so much of your self-esteem is on the line, I think it's better to fix it from within. Otherwise, even if you fix it you'll just have lingering feelings of inadequacy.

What I described above is much worse than what you did, if that makes you feel better... there's a big difference between being 5 minutes late and being hour(s) late! I, too, agree that it is a higher priority to produce good quality work while you're at work than it is to get to work at any particular time, but there are limits to that like anything else. What I was doing was totally unacceptable. What you were doing, methinks, was justifiable to any rational person, especially if what you're saying about schlupping for the first hour or two anyway is true for you and your coworkers.

Keep in mind that there may have been factors at play that you're not aware of. Perhaps the company was suffering financially and just needed any old reason to get rid of someone. Or perhaps the CEO's wife (or husband ) cheated and he or she was itching for someone to bully. Perhaps I'm wrong and your supervisor really was just too retarded to get his or her priorities straight in your case. All I'm saying is, try not to take it too personally. Unfortunately the world is full of subjectivism, moral relativism, and just plain unhappy people looking to make others miserable. Like a previous poster said, beating yourself up will just make you feel guilty, and guilt never helped anyone move forward.

"But," you say, "don't I have to take some responsibility for this if I want it to get better?" Of course you do! But, as Tony Robbins would say, describe the problem as it really is and not worse than it is. I think the problem in your case is actually quite a small, manageable one, which has been made to look totally unmanageable because of the severe actions taken by your superiors, and feel totally unmanageable due to the severe lack of control you experience.

Yes, not getting up on time when you need to wreaks havoc on your life. But what about those few days when you DID get up on time? Didn't that feel wonderful?! You were probably pretty proud of yourself for it, and experienced great productivity. You *have* to realize that the difference between that kind of a day and the madness you normally experience boils down to *one and only one critical moment.* The moment you choose to just get out of bed and not go back. In quite a real sense, the difference between where you are and where you want to be is very small, but it seems very big because of the HUGE consequence of the bad choice you often make. In fact, I know of no other arena where just one little thing can make such a huge difference (at least where my life is concerned). As Steve said in his blog (pardon me because I last read it over a year ago), making the decision to become an early riser has been one of the best decisions of his life... the cost/benefit ratio is out of this world!

So that's the good news... you can *completely* overhaul the quality of your life with just ONE change from what you're currently doing. How many people wanting to change their life get to say as much? This is what I realized over a year ago when I, after more than a decade as a total insomniac, became an early riser. I started by giving the problem "overwhelming force" and beginning Steve's Pavlovian training regimen. I found all of his suggestions to be great, and I did see some improvement, but there was still something missing because I couldn't get myself to do it consistently (like, I was still sleeping in on the weekends and choosing to stay up FAR too late sometimes). What really did it for me was recognizing the power of and relinquishing all guilt about my morning sub-conscious chatter. Once I realized how strong of an influence it was having over me, I was so afraid of letting the chatter start that it was enough of an impetus to kick my butt out of bed. I was literally afraid of not getting up before the broken record ("subconscious coach" as Steve calls it) started playing. I loved the way he phrased his challenge... to "fire" my subconscious coach. Personifying it that way allowed me to direct my anger at something and get really pissed off at that little voice that was ruining my life... straining my relationships, hurting me professionally, and stripping away my self-respect.

Of course, before I had that revelation I did try the other techniques, and they were beginning to work, but not fast enough for me. I was doing three rounds of the alarm clock drill every night for a week, drinking warm non-caffeinated things before bed, listening to relaxation CD's, dimming the lights an hour before bed, etc etc etc. I don't drink caffeine (ever... no soda and no coffee) and I don't smoke, so that helped I'm sure. But the way I see it, there are only three ways to go-- the fast way, the not-so-fast way, and the slow way. The slow way is trying all those other things that your doctor always recommends but trying them one or two at a time and crossing your fingers. The not-so-fast way is trying all those things but doing them all at once (for me, this is Steve's "overwhelming force" way). The fast way (for me) is getting so pissed of and abhorrent of that little sub-conscious voice that the prospect of shutting her up and reclaiming all that she's taken from you feels better than going back to bed. To recognize her for what she is: a sleazy little twit who has stolen so much and given back... what? Temporary comfort for possibly permanent loss of self-esteem?

I should talk... I'm back in the same boat now that I was before, due to some terrible nightmares that I've been having, brought about by the recent death of my parents. But because of my experiments before, I know that, once this pain starts to pass, I can get right back what I had before. Believe me, you'll get there if you can acknowledge and accept the pitifully small obstacle you're up against!

I wish you all the best.

Erin

[maserin]

Back again. One thing I forgot to mention in that last post (yeah, I know... it's just incredulous that I could have *missed* anything in that mess of words!) is how long it took me to make the change. I was documenting it in my journal, so I can tell you exactly. Incredibly, it took me only 3 days before it took no effort at all, and on the 10th day, I woke up two minutes before my alarm. That continued up until the point at which I lost my parents. Even though I wasn't depending on them, I still continued to keep up with as many "fall-to-sleep" tips as possible, even the alarm clock training. Because hey, it can only help. I never got to the point where I felt like an automaton jumping out of bed (the way Steve describes it being "uncomfortable" to *not* get up when his alarm went off). It was still a *choice* for me to get up before the chatter started. But, I soon looked forward so much to my morning time (the recommendation to plan something super-fun turns out to be a great one!) After a while, though, that choice became very easy to make. I could have gone back to bed, but I no longer wanted to! My conscious coach simply became much stronger than my sub-conscious one. Marvelous.

So, never fear. If you really juice yourself up to do this, expect amazing things to happen in just a few days!!!

Erin