Thursday, July 23, 2009

Admitting That You Have a Problem is the First Step

I finally said it out loud this morning:

"Grant, we have a sleeping problem".

I don't know what has happened to us. We have always loved to sleep. Our bed is the most comfortable bed in all of creation, and we rather enjoy being in it. But we've always been able to pull ourselves out of it. We can get out of bed at a decent time, have our morning prayer, get ready for work, make a lunch, and get out the door in a non-rushed fashion. But something has happened over the last few months.

I guess it was around six months ago. We hit snooze. And then we hit snooze again. And maybe 3 times after that. So we started setting 2 alarms (one on a cellphone, the other on the actual alarm clock that sits on the nightstand) and it still is not working.

Pretty much every morning we give ourselves an hour to wake up and get out the door. And pretty much every morning we don't actually get out of bed until 15 minutes before it is time to leave.

Every morning is rushed! We forget things all the time and are driving like crazy people to get to work on time. We aren't eating breakfast and we are cranky and groggy still when we get to the office.

We tried going to bed earlier, and that doesn't really help. We simply cannot get out of bed!

We've never really admitted this though. We've never discussed it. It wasn't until this morning when I was frantically straightening my hair (with the chi!) that I said to my husband (who was still in bed) "Grant, we have a sleeping problem".

He took a deep breath. "I know".

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know. I'm sleeping right now, can we talk about this later?"

So we are going to have a talk about how we can force ourselves to get out of bed. I believe that part of the problem is that we sorta egg each other on. If he is still sleeping, then I'm still sleeping, and vice versa.

Does anyone have any advice/suggestions about this? How do you get out of bed?

11 comments:

  1. Oooooooh, we have totally been through this, girl! (When I was still working and pre-pregnant and both at CLC)

    My (annoying, no fun) advice...JUST DO IT. Just get up. It sucks. You don't wanna. But just do it. The FIRST time the alarm goes off. No snooze. Commit to it. The more you do it...after a while it gets easier. Then you will be back in your old habit (the good habit) of getting up when you want/need. I promise! We went through this too!!!

    Not the advice you wanted? No one said Sleep Problem Rehab would be easy, now did they?

    Love you!!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. We should start a Sleep Problem Anonymous. Chris and I had that same problem, and we probably still would if we didn't have a baby!!

    It's crazy how having a baby has motivated me to get up early so that I have some time to get things done.

    AND I started walking with my neighbor EARLY so she is my accountability to get my bootay out of bed!

    I wish I had good advice about it my dear. Just keep trying!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is my life. I just HATE getting out of bed. It doesn't matter if it is 10 AM or 6 AM it is HARD. Lately Adam and I just started working out in the early AM before he goes to work. I wanted to do this to get my tummy muscles back. He told me if I didn't get out of bed he would work out with out me and then he would stop the program. It is a bit mean, but it is incentive. When he gets out of bed I crawl after him, running into the wall and tripping around and all since I'm still asleep.

    I know it isn't the same as you and Grant both have problems:) But maybe if you went on a walk or some type of exercise together it would be incentive. It really makes you feel better!

    The other option is have a coffee machine that makes coffee on a timer. The smell of hot coffee early might do it too;)

    Good luck!

    Em

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just say no to snooze!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That was Jess Burks by the way. I don't know why it said anonymous!

    Love ya!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oooo I reckon if you buy or make something extra yummy for breakfast the day before then you'd wanna get up super early just to eat it!!! And you might even dream about it too if it's extra yummy!! :-) muffins, fresh strawberris and melon or chocolate pancakes do the trick for me. Not that I love food or anything....ok maybe I do, a little :-) of course then you'll have to work doubley hard with Alonzo but it might just be worth it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. when mike first started his job, someone told him the first decision you make each morning is the time you went to bed the night before. so, get to bed at a decent hour--set an alarm to let you know it's bedtime if you need to, and then, as your other commenters have said, "just do it" and "say no to snooze" ... set the alarm far from the bed if you have to.

    ReplyDelete
  8. In high school my dad said something daddish like, "you need to learn to wake up on your own now, cause in college, no one's going to be there to bail you out." sounds like a dad! :0)

    His first recommendation was to put the clock at the FARTHEST end of the room from the bed. That way you have to physically get OUT of bed to turn off the alarm...err, press snooze. TOTALLY worked for me. And everytime I slip into the snooze habit again, I just move the clock. Works like magic.

    And if that doesn't work, like everyone else said: Just get your lazy bones out of bed!

    And you aren't the only ones who play sleep tag. Jon & I are TERRIBLE at using the other one as our excuse!! And not just for this, for ANYTHING!

    Miss you!
    Sally

    ReplyDelete
  9. we are soooo this way! haha. makes me laugh. i have to say that working out has definitely helped my energy levels some. it totally sucks, but i feel better and sleep better and function better. talk to me once i go back to school!

    ReplyDelete
  10. We LOVE the snooze. When we got married, the alarm went to Spencer's side of the bed. He NEVER hears it, so I wake up nudging him to either snooze or turn it off. By the time it has gone off for 5 minutes, I am up. :)

    When we did go through a similar cycle, we compromised and set the alarm 15 minutes later and we made ourselves get up then, knowing we had already "snoozed."

    You could also put the clock away from the bed so you HAD to get up to turn it off.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Have some babies! That will get you up!! HAHAHA!!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete