Choose Your Most Important Task Over Email from Top Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine
Comments
As for waking up: Buy an alarm clock with NO SNOOZE. Seriously, snooze buttons are the devil. No, you're not getting anything good out of those 9 minutes but wasted time. Buy an old fashioned alarm clock with those bells on the top (I got mine for $12 at Target) and when it goes off, get out of bed. Not having a snooze keeps me from thinking "Oh, just another minute..."because I KNOW I'll be screwed if I don't get up.
Trust me, I am not a morning person and then I taught high school. In my case, my day started at 4:45 M-F. I never once overslept.
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After a cold shower, blood will flow to the skin surface and your body starts working to raise your body temp. After a hot shower, your body cools. The key, though, is to cool off in the bed, not while walking around.
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Some things I've seen multiple on times on LH and elsewhere:
- Spend a few minutes near your bedtime clearing your head of any work you need to get done, perhaps leave a notepad on your nightstand so you can write down any errant thoughts.
- I also leave things like picking up the house, cleaning dishes, and ironing the next day's clothes until late in the evening so I can end the day with work accomplished. Stick to tasks that don't require your body to get 'adrenalized'.
- If the 'shower' methods suggested in the other responses don't do it for you, try a yoga DVD. I've never worked it into a daily routine, but when I use relaxation yoga I crash hard.
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Some things I've seen multiple on times on LH and elsewhere:
- Spend a few minutes near your bedtime clearing your head of any work you need to get done, perhaps leave a notepad on your nightstand so you can write down any errant thoughts.
- I also leave things like picking up the house, cleaning dishes, and ironing the next day's clothes until late in the evening so I can end the day with work accomplished. Stick to tasks that don't require your body to get 'adrenalized'.
- If the 'shower' methods suggested in the other responses don't do it for you, try a yoga DVD. I've never worked it into a daily routine, but when I use relaxation yoga I crash hard.
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My very best advice on falling asleep quickly comes from practicing yoga. It gave me the ability to meditate and turn off my racing thoughts more easily, which drastically reduced the transitional time between turning off the light and actually falling asleep.
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I think this varies more than you realize. My mother is like you, and must have the house fairly cold to be able to sleep. However, I am the opposite, and will lie awake (shivering) all night in a cool house. I need a hot shower, a down comforter, and wool socks, and I won't be able to fall asleep until I'm toasty warm
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When I had trouble falling asleep, I ended up making it my mental time. Try going to bed earlier, with the intention of reading, listening to calm music like Enya, Sade, classical or jazz, or just use that time to meditatively think about the events of the day and plan for the next. After turning that can't-fall-asleep time into time-for-me time, I have a much better time going down for the night.
Comments
As for waking up: Buy an alarm clock with NO SNOOZE. Seriously, snooze buttons are the devil. No, you're not getting anything good out of those 9 minutes but wasted time. Buy an old fashioned alarm clock with those bells on the top (I got mine for $12 at Target) and when it goes off, get out of bed. Not having a snooze keeps me from thinking "Oh, just another minute..."because I KNOW I'll be screwed if I don't get up. Trust me, I am not a morning person and then I taught high school. In my case, my day started at 4:45 M-F. I never once overslept.
After a cold shower, blood will flow to the skin surface and your body starts working to raise your body temp. After a hot shower, your body cools. The key, though, is to cool off in the bed, not while walking around.
Some things I've seen multiple on times on LH and elsewhere: - Spend a few minutes near your bedtime clearing your head of any work you need to get done, perhaps leave a notepad on your nightstand so you can write down any errant thoughts. - I also leave things like picking up the house, cleaning dishes, and ironing the next day's clothes until late in the evening so I can end the day with work accomplished. Stick to tasks that don't require your body to get 'adrenalized'. - If the 'shower' methods suggested in the other responses don't do it for you, try a yoga DVD. I've never worked it into a daily routine, but when I use relaxation yoga I crash hard.
Some things I've seen multiple on times on LH and elsewhere: - Spend a few minutes near your bedtime clearing your head of any work you need to get done, perhaps leave a notepad on your nightstand so you can write down any errant thoughts. - I also leave things like picking up the house, cleaning dishes, and ironing the next day's clothes until late in the evening so I can end the day with work accomplished. Stick to tasks that don't require your body to get 'adrenalized'. - If the 'shower' methods suggested in the other responses don't do it for you, try a yoga DVD. I've never worked it into a daily routine, but when I use relaxation yoga I crash hard.
My very best advice on falling asleep quickly comes from practicing yoga. It gave me the ability to meditate and turn off my racing thoughts more easily, which drastically reduced the transitional time between turning off the light and actually falling asleep.
I think this varies more than you realize. My mother is like you, and must have the house fairly cold to be able to sleep. However, I am the opposite, and will lie awake (shivering) all night in a cool house. I need a hot shower, a down comforter, and wool socks, and I won't be able to fall asleep until I'm toasty warm
When I had trouble falling asleep, I ended up making it my mental time. Try going to bed earlier, with the intention of reading, listening to calm music like Enya, Sade, classical or jazz, or just use that time to meditatively think about the events of the day and plan for the next. After turning that can't-fall-asleep time into time-for-me time, I have a much better time going down for the night.