How to Become a Morning Person
Pages in this Story:
- From Snooze-Button Addict to Morning Person
- Sizing Up My Zzz's
- Resetting My Internal Clock
- Creating a Sleep Sanctuary
- Bypassing the Snooze Button
From Snooze-Button Addict to Morning Person
I have always wanted to be one of those women who jump out of bed and into a pair of running shoes at 7 a.m. What an amazing feeling: to stroll into work after a three-mile jog, a Spinning class, or a series of sun salutations. I wouldn't know.
"Um, really?" my husband asks on Monday night when I tell him I'm going to the gym the next morning at seven. Why the skepticism? He shoots me a knowing look.
Tuesday
7:00 a.m. Alarm blares. Ugh, I should get up.
SNOOZE
7:15 a.m. My gym clothes are right there! I laid them out on my chair last night!
SNOOZE
7:30 a.m. I should at least get up and do a workout DVD.
SNOOZE
7:45 a.m. Too late to work out; might as well cozy up and sleep some more.
SNOOZE
8:00 a.m. Now I have to get up or else I'll be late.
Clearly my morning sluggishness is cramping my workout style. But can I change my night-owl ways? Because I've snoozed through the better part of three decades, I'm pretty sure I'm just inherently lazy. But I'm determined to try, so I call in the troops: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. After I tell them about my mission to get more out of my mornings, they set me up with my very own sleep guru, Colette Haward, MD, a psychiatrist in New York City. At our first meeting, my future as an early riser looks bright. "There's a genetic component to your circadian clock. But for many people, behavioral changes make a big difference," Dr. Haward says. She tells me that it typically takes a few weeks to get on a better sleep schedule. I'm yawning already.







So..... what's new there?? Not rocket science... really!
4/21/2010 09:16:02 AM Report AbuseThis is very useful advice. I started taking medicine for restless legs and am sleeping better than I have in a long time. I still require 9-10 hrs of sleep a day. I know that number would go down if I could just get to bed earlier. I'm naturally a night owl and I go to bed at midnight and have to be up at 8 to get the kids ready for school. I work from 10-1 then come home and take a couple hour nap. I know it's the nap that makes me stay up till midnight but I'm tired in the afternoon.
4/21/2010 08:30:37 AM Report Abusedoes she not have a job or something? im a student i have to get up at 6:30 to make the bus and on weekends i gotta get up at 7:00 to make it to work...what world is she living on, i would love to have her job.
4/18/2010 09:15:48 PM Report AbuseEverything you got cost too much!! I'm on Social Security Disability and I hurt a lot that's why it's hard to get to sleep. Not having the money to buy all the "get to sleep" things that were bought. Social Security didn't go up any for 2 years now
4/13/2010 02:38:32 AM Report AbuseHmmmm... Sounds interesting. Think imma try this b4 i go to bed tonight.
4/12/2010 04:29:21 PM Report Abuse