Starting the Day: Tips for Non-Morning People

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around strategies and experiences related to waking up and starting the day, particularly for those who struggle with mornings. Participants share personal anecdotes, tips, and various methods they use to feel more awake, including dietary choices and routines.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express difficulty waking up in the morning, often feeling sluggish or unrefreshed.
  • Several individuals mention reliance on coffee, with varying opinions on its effectiveness and alternatives like apples or exercise.
  • One participant shares a unique morning routine involving a power bar and multiple cups of coffee, emphasizing the importance of these rituals for their readiness to work.
  • Another participant describes a traumatic experience with an alarm clock that has influenced their punctuality and sleep patterns.
  • Some participants suggest that exercise in the morning could help wake them up, although others express reluctance to engage in physical activity at that time.
  • A few participants humorously reference the idea of using unconventional methods, such as hot sauce, to stimulate wakefulness.
  • There are mentions of personal experiences with sleep and alertness during stressful periods, such as exams or project deadlines, leading to mixed feelings about morning readiness.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a common struggle with waking up and starting their day, but there are multiple competing views on effective strategies and routines. No consensus is reached on the best approach to overcome morning sluggishness.

Contextual Notes

Some participants note that their experiences with food and exercise in the morning are influenced by personal preferences and physiological responses, which may not apply universally.

wolram
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Or in my case the afternoon, even if i do have a good days sleep i feel like an over used fish,
two cups of coffee ,the instant muck, no food, i can not face food until about 3, 4 hours after i have woken up, it takes me ages to wake up proper.
So how do you start the day, i will slap anyone with a wet haddock if they say they wake up fresh as a daisy.
 
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This morning I crawled out of bed and slithered on the ground to work. I always have trouble getting started on a Monday.
 
wolram said:
Or in my case the afternoon, even if i do have a good days sleep i feel like an over used fish,
two cups of coffee ,the instant muck, no food, i can not face food until about 3, 4 hours after i have woken up, it takes me ages to wake up proper.
So how do you start the day, i will slap anyone with a wet haddock if they say they wake up fresh as a daisy.

Here comes a list of everyone's favorite coffee brand!

EDIT: and to answer your question, I usually do I few math problems in the morning. Sleeping usually clears my mind so that I can attack freshly some problems that I had struggled with the day before. Also, there is nothing like a good topology problem to activate your brain for a day of work.
 
Last edited:
ehrenfest said:
Here comes a list of everyone's favorite coffee brand!

NO, not a coffee brand thread, i could be drinking snakes pee for all the difference it would make.
 
I hear an apple is supposed to wake you up as well if not better than a cup of coffee. I have the same issue with not being able to eat in the morning too though so I have never tried it.

exercise routines are supposed to be best done in the mornings and help you wake up and such. I don't think I could do that myself. I hate non-fun exercise enough as it is without having to do it first thing in the morning.

My friend used to take shots of extremely hot hotsauce in the morning to wake himself up. He said that once his eyes stopped watering and his throat was no longer on fire he was ready to go for the day.
 
Do you exercise?

Also, do not eat within a few hours of going to sleep. I know what you mean though, I usually wake up and go to 2 of my classes before eating breakfast. Just the thought of food makes me nauseous.

I think that the two main answers you will get to this question will deal with exercise and nutrition.
 
I wake up at 2:45 am, and head right for coffee, then a shower. On my way to work [{in my car} I eat a power bar or some cheese, then stop for more coffee. I'm ready to work by the time I get there.
 
TheStatutoryApe said:
I hear an apple is supposed to wake you up as well if not better than a cup of coffee. I have the same issue with not being able to eat in the morning too though so I have never tried it.

I eat apples in the morning sometimes and they do indeed help wake you up, at least in my experience. I do not know why. Maybe it is the sugar? Or maybe eating something light in the morning just helps wake you up?
 
G01 said:
Maybe it is the sugar?

That's definitely it.
 
  • #10
When I have some bugs/other problems in my program/project...
 
  • #11
rootX said:
When I have some bugs/other problems in my program/project...

What?
 
  • #12
ehrenfest said:
What?

When I have some bugs/other problems in my program/project... or even during exam times
I wake fresh as daisy :) because I hardly even get any sleep :(.

I get into these bad times every second week :)
 
  • #13
I have a hard time falling asleep once woken up so I can usually get going pretty fast.
My thursdays are usually like this:
Alarm @ 7:30
Shower @ 7:32
Leave House @ 7:40
Coffee Shop @ 7:45 (* This is key : Quad shot on ice. (Medium Iced Americano w/ a little milk and splenda *)
Get to School @ 8:30

My mind and heart are usually racing once the alarm goes off. It all stems from repeated childhood trauma where I had this alarm clock from grades 3 through 8 where instead of a tender "beep beep beep" it was a bone-jarring "GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Like when you put a spoon in the garbage disposal. (no volume adj)
Where jump in your sleep, leap across the room and slam down the snooze button just to shut it off so you don't wake up everyone else in the house.

That experience has made me fairly punctual and a light sleeper. My biggest problem comes around 2pm when my eyes want to close, there must be sand in them one something...
 
  • #14
I usually start the day by having my dog knock (or scratch) on my door until I open it and take him outside.

The problem? My brother and sister are in their rooms and my mom is always already up. Guess he just likes me best. :blushing:
 
  • #15
jimmysnyder said:
This morning I crawled out of bed and slithered on the ground to work. I always have trouble getting started on a Monday.

Oh boy, are you going to be in for a surprise when you find out it's already Tuesday! That slow of a start on Mondays, huh?

I REALLY was dragging this morning. You can ask the other mentors, they'll tell you about my lack of comprehension skills this morning. Today was one of those mornings where I started off with sudafed and ibuprofen before the coffee, then still just sat at my desk for a while after making it to work trying to unfog my brain. Thankfully, that did eventually happen about the time I had to start teaching, but I thought it was going to be a really rough morning. (Though, the student passing out in the lab finally got me pretty awake.)
 
  • #16
rootX said:
When I have some bugs/other problems in my program/project... or even during exam times
I wake fresh as daisy :) because I hardly even get any sleep :(.

I get into these bad times every second week :)

Wet haddock slap, slap.
 
  • #17
wolram said:
Wet haddock slap, slap.

I once had a gold haddock. Seemed the thing to do.
 

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