What Motivates You To Get Out Of Bed In The Morning ....?

excluding being woken by children :)

DD2 has almost reliably started sleeping through so I'm no longer woken by a child first thing in the morning.

Trouble is, I've NEVER ever been a morning person. Ever since I was a kid I've had real problems motivating myself to get out of bed. My default position is to think. I wake up and I start thinking. Not worrying, just thinking.

I would love to be one of those people who got out of bed, had a stretch and got on with their day. Pottered around with bed hair making a cup of coffee and doing breakfast.

I could spend at least 20 minutes in bed thinking about what I should do first when I get out of bed. Should I get dressed first or should I have a cup of tea. And on and on it goes.

I don't have a TV in my bedroom. I'm seriously thinking about getting one because the idea of watching trashy breakfast TV is such a novelty that it might motivate me to get on with things.

How do you start your day if you're not woken by children?

If it's not the kids needing me, then I've got to be honest and say my motivation to get out of bed each morning is to go to the toilet. Otherwise, I'd happily pull up the covers and stay there all day. ETA: Reading this back, the only thought in my head is "if only ...". Like you, I'm not really a morning person, but I've had to become one during the past few years. I hate getting out of bed early in summer, let alone winter. I'm waiting for the day my kids don't need me at 6am ;)

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am chronically late. Getting out of bed involves climbing up through seven hellish layers of nausea and physical discomfort until I'm sufficiently alert to be able to roll out of bed and stumble about, unable to move properly or function for at least half an hour. After about half an hour I'm starting to approach the state most people call "awake", although I still don't have 100% physical coordination.

Weirdly enough, it's only taken several decades for me to realise that this is indicative of a sleep disorder and not some massive, daily personal failing.

I too would love to be one of those people who got out of bed and got on with it.

i have two night owl kids, so i like to get up before them so i get time to myself. DS is usually in our bed by morning so i feed him and then he goes back to sleep and i sneak out. i would love to shower first thing (sometimes i do) but i am scared it will wake one or both of them.

i might check out the computer, do a little study or (my fave) is to cut out patterns which is difficult to do when the kids are around. alternatives are to fold washing or tidy up - things that the kids make harder to do.

some days i will make eggs on toast and enjoy them all to myself.

would love to be able to go for a walk or bikeride by myself, but dh is definitely not a morning person (if he is home), and so i have to be around for the kids.

hanging washing on the line by myself is also a novelty.

this is all sounding boring now i write it down, but on days when i don't get this me time, i am much less tolerant.

oh, and i go to the toilet by myself.

I am woken at 5am every morning by our 3 year old, give or take half an hour. If I ever have the pleasure of waking up before the kids the idea of a coffee on my own without having to talk to anyone (I am not a morning person these days lol) is enough to have me out of bed like a shot!

Glad I'm not the only one. I'm going to go to bed (v v early for me), visualise getting up early and listening to BBC Radio 2 while I get dressed and have a cuppa.

I'll let you know how I go!

Depends if I have anyone coming over that day. If I do, housework is my motivation. God forbid anyone know I live with toddlers and my house is actually always a mess!

If we have nothing on... I am really not motivated at all. I would have to say (other than children of course) would be a trip to loo too. (Dam you bladder!)

Ladies, look at the time! I'm up and having a cuppa. Quite smug. Mind you, it's 12 degrees so I'm having that cuppa in bed and waiting for the house to heat up a bit until I get dressed.

So is it purely a go-to-bed-early thing, then?

Sounds silly but to me waking up is like breaking bad news to someone. I figure its got to happen anyway, better do it now quickly before I've thought about it too much and talked myself out of it :) Also, I have a routine in the morning so I don't have to think about what to do. Boring, but easier to get up as its always the same - shower, coffee then toast. Sometimes the shower is just me, sometimes me and three kids - but always in the same order so I don't have to think about it at all. I try not to think about the rest of the day until I'm drinking my coffee - only then can I handle the rest if the world.

The dog whining and banging on the door gets me up. I let him out to go toilet and then he insists on a walk. However, this morning I went back to bed. His walk can wait a bit. It's really cold out there but it's snuggly in bed.

The need for food! I always wake up starving. Lucky I am a morning person I was saying to mum other day it must be hard having kids and not being a morning person.

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So is it purely a go-to-bed-early thing, then?

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Not for me. i am often up to stupid hours, but still feel better getting up early and having time to do my thing.

I do think people have a natural tendency to feel better at specific times of the day. My DH is a night owl, he works shift work and even when he has to get up at 4am, he won't sleep til midnight the night before. After night shift, however he catches up on sleep and might sleep til 3pm. He has been on leave and has naturally (no alarms and not been woken) woken each day at 9am.

I have always felt more alive in the morning than any other time of the day. My kids are night owls, and so they have trained me to be more alert for longer into the night. However, i am still alert in the morning and so my nights have just got shorter and shorter over past 3 years.

No, I don't think it's purely an early to bed thing although knowing that you've had a decent amount of sleep certainly helps I think. For me, I think it's going to be a matter of having something to do that I actually enjoy. This morning I listened to the BBC news while drinking a cuppa then I tidied my bedroom. My bedroom's my haven so I'm still basking in the glow of having a tidy(ish) room. Getting up earlier has made a significant difference to my mood so I'm going to try to keep it up!

Big drink of water before bed, up to pee by 6-6:30 everytime.

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Big drink of water before bed, up to pee by 6-6:30 everytime.

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Really?? It's 1am for me, then again at 6:30!

Poo patrol before the kids wake up. One of our dogs is 14yo and has a disease which irritates her bowel. She only does it occasionally inside now but at one stage it was daily. Luckily only DH has stepped in it **insert evil laugh as he refuses to clean it up but gives her food which makes it worse**.

My alarm, and the desire to catch my train, as I have friends on that train who are hilarious and put me in a good mood.

And the knowledge that the hour I have from 7.30-8.30am is rather productive as I don't have people calling me or asking me questions.

And I can do my daily Addoku in peace.

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My alarm, and the desire to catch my train, as I have friends on that train who are hilarious and put me in a good mood.

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Did you know them apart from on train? As a train user I often wonder how people go about getting travelling buddies?

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Did you know them apart from on train? As a train user I often wonder how people go about getting travelling buddies?

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I've been making train buddies since grade 6 :)

My current band of buddies originated from mutual commiserations over the shattering that is morning sickness on packed hour long train rides. Been friends for about 18 months now :)

There's some crazies out there, but plenty of nice ones too :)

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I've been making train buddies since grade 6 :)

My current band of buddies originated from mutual commiserations over the shattering that is morning sickness on packed hour long train rides. Been friends for about 18 months now :)

There's some crazies out there, but plenty of nice ones too :)

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So I just need to find something to start a conversation about? Morning sickness is out, no one engages people with discussions on the weather - will have to think on that one then.

Just strike up a conversation :)

Worst case scenario, it doesn't work out and you start catching a different carriage ;)

Good luck ! I've met some really, really lovely people.

Some ass hats too, and the occasional stalker, but they're the minority.

Exercise. Since the birth of my second daughter I started competing in triathlons. The best time of the day to train is the morning, so I get it over and done with ... and it makes me feel awesome for the rest of the day. It's hard to get motivated if you're not aiming for anything, so find a fun run or something to train for.
Good luck!

I'd love to get out of bed and go do some exercise but that would mean leaving a 5-year-old and 2-year-old in the house on their own :)

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I'd love to get out of bed and go do some exercise but that would mean leaving a 5-year-old and 2-year-old in the house on their own :)

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Yep, same issue here. Just doesn't work for all.

The need to be organised motivates me.
I've started getting up around a half hour before the girls do so I can be showered and ready to go. If I get up when they awaken I feel like I'm on the back foot all morning.

If nothing else the need to pee eventually drives me out of bed.

At the moment for me its the "up up up" i hear from dd's cot and that lovely pregnant pee or die feeling!

The silence of the Liebling drives me to get up. It's fine when I'm in bed pretending to sleep and can hear him. When I can't, I know I need to investigate or we could end up having a bad day.

In my last place of work, knowing it was a work day got me up and going. I really liked that place. And now it's shut. I doubt that will happen again in a hurry, but would like to be proved wrong when I start my new job in 6 weeks' time.

I've always just done it. I know I've set my alarm for a time that gives me the most sleep time I can get, while not having to rush around to get ready. So when the alarm goes off I open my eyes, take a deep breath, and get outta bed.

These days my biggest impetus is the husband - he seems pretty incapable of getting up himself. I can lay there and get angry at him not getting outta bed, or I can get up and make his lunch, cos I sure can't go back to sleep with all his fricken alarms going off.

So, Fiona, how's the BBC-listening going as motivation?

I've got something I'd love to be doing for half an hour in the mornings but no amount of allure is enough to drag me upright.

My motivation is exercise - I am lucky enough to have a fancy treadmill inside so when I do have a bub, I can still exercise at home :)