Ask Chicagoist: Help Me Wake Up!

The always useful Ask Chicagoist addresses a recent obsession of mine, making yourself get out of bed in the morning. I used to be a morning person. When I faced a 30-mile reverse commute to get work by 8:00 a.m., I had to. And for a few months last year, I was possessed by a spirit that made me get out of bed at 5 every day so I could squeeze in some work before the toys started flying.

But now I’m the classic snoozer, punching the bar on the alarm clock every eight minutes until the previous night’s best-laid plans are a half hour late. I like to say it’s the bed’s fault. It’s too damn comfortable, but I probably don’t do myself any favors by staying up reading or watching TV past midnight.

Thales from Chicagoist recommends a number of tricks for getting your ass out of bed, including setting the coffee pot timer to start brewing around your wake up time, putting your alarm clock out of snooze button reach, and a nifty-looking gadget called the Sleeptracker that tracks your sleep patterns and wakes you up during the lightest phase of your sleep cycle. When I was more diligent, some things that worked for me were avoiding caffeine after 3 p.m. or so, no glowing screens—TV or computer—near bedtime, and putting my slippers by the bed. For some reason, if I could sit up immediately and shove my toes in the slippers, it made me want to stand up and get going.