Posted by Noa on May 3, 2001, at 15:40:46
In reply to Re: A solution?, posted by Michele on May 2, 2001, at 14:04:02
I allow myself a long time in the morning, and don't make myself get ready right away. I get up, take my medication, and then do something (eg, play computer games) for about an hour, until I feel awake enough to start getting ready. I suppose it helps that one of my meds is adderall, so the hour gives it time to kick in and make me more alert. Of course this means waking up really early.
But essentially, it helps to find a morning ritual of some sort. Not to jump right into getting ready, but some kind of "time out" activity to ease into being awake. At one point in my life I used to make a cup of herbal tea and just sit on the couch and drink it. Sometimes, reading was the ritual. Find what works for you. The point is to not expect yourself to be in full executive functioning mode immediately upon awakening.
The other major component of this is getting enough sleep. If I get myself into bed early enough, I usually wake up without the alarm. For me, it is kind of funny that this happens because I used to be the sort who would hit the snooze eleven thousand billion times or even just sleep right through the alarm. I don't know why, perhaps my meds cause this, but I tend to wake up at least 10-15 minutes before the alarm (if I have gotten into bed early enough, which is the habit part that is very challenging).
I also don't drink caffeine anymore. That helps a lot. It is a bear to go through the withdrawal, but it has helped with the ability to fall asleep and also has made waking up much better.
When I drive to work, some days I am in a good mood, other days I am still in the early morning funk, so I play an upbeat radio station to liven me up and by the time I get to work, I am usually fine. Again, if I had enough sleep (ie gone to bed at a good time), I am usually in a good enough mood by the time I am dressed and out the door. But if I am not rested enough, I am grumpy.
As for the sleep deprivation thing--I have had times in my life when I noticed the effect, but it didn't last because I became fatigued if I tried to keep going on too little sleep.
poster:Noa
thread:61180
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010424/msgs/61533.html