Everyday Systems

[mstevens]

Anyone have any ideas on an everyday system approach to getting up at a sensible time?

I'm finding I have persistent problems with making it to work on time and am trying to do something about it.

I'm wondering about something vaguely similar to no-s - lie-ins on weekends, a 21 day goal to get the habit going, but I'm not really sure.

[ThomsonsPier]

Set your alarm earlier and go to bed at a reasonable time. Make sure you sleep well by not exercising, eating or performing any activity which enlivens you before bed and by making your bedroom a calming environment at the right temperature.

To keep your body clock in order, you should really get up at the same time during the weekend as you do in the week, or at least no more than half an hour later.

I can't really suggest a whole lot as this is a fairly simple problem (which I also used to have). You could try forcing yourself up early for three weeks and see if that helps. Something which assisted me was to get up very early an eat breakfast, training my body to be hungry early in the morning. This forced me to get up and eat, with the added advantage that it helps weight loss.
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ThomsonsPier

It's a trick. Get an axe.

[reinhard]

Have a kid. That totally solved this problem for me.

Pets work too.

[reinhard]

Here's a less drastic measure.

1. Figure out what time you want to be at work. Figure out what time you need to leave the house to get there on time. This is the critical number you should use for determining behavioral "success."

2. Figure out how long it really takes you to do everything you need to get out of the house. Put them in some kind of sensible order and write down a time for doing each one. This isn't going to be very accurate at first.

3. This should leave you with a wake up time.
Subtract 8 (or however many hours of sleep you need) and you have a bed time. If you don't keep this as well, you aren't going to keep the wake up time.

4. Make a monthly resolution or whatever to focus on this one habit. Every morning you make it out of the house by your chosen time, success. Every morning you're even a minute late, failure. Don't curse yourself for being late. That's self revenge and a form of compensation. Just note it and think how you could make the goal tomorrow. You may need to rework your calculations and goals over the first few weeks you do this. But you should eventually hit something that works. Keep doing this and eventually it will become an automatic habit.

Despite cats and kids, I've actually been doing something like this. Not because I oversleep, but because I have have so many non-work activities I like to squeeze in before leaving for work (mornings are my most productive times). My daughter starts screaming "daddy!" at around 6. My wife and I deal with her, the cats, breakfast, and getting them out until 8. From 8 to 8:20 I read into my recorder. From 8:21 to 8:40 I study a foreign language. From 8:41 to 9 I shovelglove (some buffer around the 14 minutes). From 9:01 to 9:10 I shower and get dressed. My be-outside or-fail time is 9:14. This gets me to work at 9:30 if I walk fast, which is perfect. Speaking of work... I should probably get off the bb now

Reinhard

[mstevens]

Kids could work Some other downsides though.

One step that might help would be getting an actually comfortable bed.

reinhard: Giving me ideas, let's see how tomorrow morning goes.

[larisa0001]

I've been having fairly good success with setting my alarm for 7:30 and getting up at 8; this way, I get 1/2 hour to read in bed in the morning. Admittedly, sometimes I let things slide till 8:05, but not usually later than that.

[mstevens]

Things are looking promising at the moment, although I still haven't yet managed actually turning up to things on time.

[KCCC]

Getting up on time starts with going to bed on time. Figure out what that needs to be, and work on that for a week.

Also, figure out what you can do the night before to expedite the morning. Set up coffee. Decide what's for breakfast. Look at your calendar and decide what to wear. Fix your lunch and stick it in the fridge.

Then pay attention to the morning. Where are the "knots" (that's what I call logistical/emotional tangles)? Focus on those. For example, we'd be on time up until breakfast, then lose track and have a mad dash (with accompanying fussing) to brush teeth and get to school on time. So, I set an alarm we can hear in the kitchen to go off ten minutes before we need to leave - just enough time to finish up. Even my six-year old knows if it rings while he's still eating that he needs to hurry - and the mad scramble is a thing of the past.

Your "knot" will be different, but once you identify where you lose track, you can work on it.

Another trick is to set "marks" once you know your routine. By 6:45, everyone should be up and getting dressed. By 7, we should sitting down to breakfast. If we're early, we can fix something that takes longer. If we're late, it's a very quick breakfast... look at your routine and figure your "marks."

Good luck!

[mstevens]

Still doing promisingly with reinhard's routine, although I don't think I've got the times down right yet.

At the moment I'm oscillating between extremely early and late to work. Which is still better than before when I was consistently late...

[reinhard]

nice! glad you're making progress and that our tips helped.

Reinhard