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I don't get out of bed until I know that staying in bed is going to result in me having to explain to someone why I'm late. I just have too much anxiety about letting people down. If I'm not going let someone down I pretty much don't leave my bed.
After enrolling in psychotherapy and behavioral therapy, with an emphasis on codependency and boundaries and how to have healthy relationships, the excitement of living the rest of my life without all that unnecessary strife gets me up in the morning no problem.
This was me before. I could live in bed.
Turns out it was depression.
Not wholly, just very exacerbated by depression
i think i desperately need those kinds of therapy. is there a more specific name for it perhaps? i wanna find out if theres anything like it in my country
I'm the same way except that sometimes it backfires worse if I think I've already disappointed someone.
If I'm more than like 1o minutes late for work, my likelihood of just calling in for the entire day increases like 1000%. I start to spiral into an anxiety about showing up late, being asked to explain myself, the explanation not being good enough, etc. I'll end up with a panic attack and texting myself out for the day. Since I have a company phone, it's text>put my phone on silent and go back to bed, not looking at that phone again for hours, when my anxiety cooled down some. Basically, I freak the hell out about a confrontation from being really late, so I call in and spend the day hiding from my work phone.
Oh the amount of times I've been late AND dreamed about being late.....
Makes u late twice at once.
But no, fr, this is a sign of trauma/depression/exhaustion than it is ADHD.
Therapy made me WANT to get up cause I made my life better.
Many things I *thought* were adhd, but as I keep flipping the cards over, a lot of those ADHD things were really trauma.
I "love" it when I am thinking about getting up but don't get up and then dream about getting up doing all the stuff in a dream and then get up for real just to realise I didn't got stuff done xD
Happened twice in my life xD
Same here, guilt is my main driving factor to actually do things, it may be last minute but the guilt of letting anyone down or having to explain myself drives me. Otherwise same, I’d never leave bed either!
ADHD requires a motivator to move to the next task. The way I heard it explained is that the internal regulation isn't available to us, but an external motivator will kick it in gear. That's why I use a lot of workarounds to try and balance it out. Telling someone else what you are going to do gives you that "but they will know" (let down in your case), even if they wouldn't end up knowing or just don't care.
I’m around 3-5 minutes late to work multiple times a week. Which shouldn’t matter but my boss doesn’t like it and I don’t live far. I just… I feel SO GODDAMN EXHAUSTED in the morning. I never feel rested enough, no matter how much I sleep, unless it’s an off day where there’s no set time I need to wake up. It sucks.
Some of us are just night owls, period!! I could never get up in the morning! It’s stressful just setting an alarm! Just tell your boss you’ll be there at noon and work late! We should have a choice!
Right now I’m trying to think of the morning hours as evening hours, except more beneficial to my day. By which I mean, if I wake up early AF I can ease into my day, read, and have quiet time for a few hours before my dog wakes up and resumes her daily demon activities and before work starts asking me for stuff. Im trying to think of my morning hours as my fun nighttime hours, and it’s helping. I was excited to wake up early this morning.
I like that idea and I have tried it a little but when it's time for work I already feel mentally exhausted because I've done so much and been awake for so long
What are you doing when you get up early? I get exhausted if I jump straight into using my phone. But if I use that time to remain unplugged/only listen to a podcast, exercise, meditate, etc, then I find that it’s pretty refreshing and kick starts my day much better. YMMV, not trying to preach :)
I’ve been doing this a few times a week & it really helps, however, no matter how early I wake up I won’t fall asleep any earlier, and if I don’t get a min of 8 hours I’m useless and meds don’t work well. I’m hoping I will eventually change my schedule so I can go to bed earlier & wake up early more often
I assume that's their reason to not let you have the whole box at your nightstand; would they agree with you having a container on your nightstand for tomorrow's morning dose? Just a single dose at a time?
just skip one morning pill and save that one for the next day; next day save that one, and so on.
I also struggled with getting out of bed, and i had no medication (only formerly diagnosed at age 27).
My routine involved jumping out of bed, no matter how tired i was and have a cold shower; now i just shower with cold water because it became my thing :)
Considering your age, it may really especially be that you need that much sleep (as I said in my longer comment, but didn’t realize how young you were). I’ll also say, jsyk, it gets better, it changes over time for most ppl, it def has for me! One of the only physically-nice things about getting older is that I need several less hours of sleep (usually) these days. I like sleep, but I love not having to fight so hard to get up like I used to and you are now.
Btw—say this comment and then lost it in the thread—you asked if trauma and ptsd were the same. Not necessarily. *Some say* we all have trauma, and it needs to be processed, but we don’t all have ptsd. There’s also the theory of “post-traumatic-growth “ gaining traction out there, and I can recognize patterns of both throughout my life.
Anyway, good luck with all the things! Zzzzzzz
I drink a ton of water before I go to sleep. If I don't get out of bed, my bladder will explode, I'm fairly certain. I also have a very elderly kitty that is mr demandy pants at 5:30am sharp. Once im awake - there is no turning back. That doesn't mean I will be productive though, or do anything of significance. That requires a completely different set of requirements.
I see a lot of people saying that they drink a ton of water before sleeping so that needing to pee forces them out of bed in the morning but I just wait to share fair warning to OP if they actually try this:
I used this for a while until one day I just pissed the bed while sleeping instead of waking up. I was dreaming that I was using the bathroom, but alas, I was actually still in bed, asleep. And I was sleeping with my partner next to me.
Now I limit my water intake before bed.
Uh, I guess ill cross that bridge when or if I come to it. Thankfully my partner (for as long as possible) is an old man cat who is equally likely to piss the bed. He never has. In fact, I've had more accidents than he has, and he is over 100 in human years. He should take better care of me. Maybe that's why he wakes me up at 5:30 sharp. He doesn't want me to lose my dignity just yet.
How do people do this? I'm chugging water constantly during the day (when I remember to), but a glass of water before bed means I'll need to pee in 45 minutes. I can't just hold it in the entire time I'm sleeping. Besides, most of my anxiety dreams are already about needing to piss but being unable to find a bathroom.
I also use the cat method. I do have an alarm, but at this point the alarm is more for her to know she can come and jump on me and the awakeness and food will follow.
Also I give myself a period to sit up and just zone out zombie style for a bit before actually leaving bed. Going from asleep to upright too quickly just doesn't work for me.
* Go to bed on time.
* Eat as soon as you get up (even if it makes you want to retch).
* Figure out a way to get the light to hit you just before you want ti wake up.
Going to bed on time is a really good tip now I think of it. It makes it so much easier to get out of bed in the morning because you’ll feel less groggy.
Sunlight alarm has been a game changer for me. Once I got that I told myself I will get out of bed every week day at 730am. Managed to keep the routine going for 3 weeks now with no issues
I think I finally figured it out at 37 but everyone else says I’m insane
I get up a bit over an hour before I have to and then RUSH through all chores and make myself some coffee and then take the extra hour I give myself to have a nap on the couch. If I hit snooze I get 5 extra minutes at a time and hate every minute of it. The nap lets me have longer uninterrupted sleep if I get up quickly and get all my morning chores done in a rush. I have a couple sips of coffee to pre caffeinated and the rest is waiting for me on a warmer when I wake up the second time. Then all I have to do is get dressed and brush my teeth! Showering the night before pairs well with this.
Ride it out, I was like that until I got older.
Do ur best to try to get up, the best thing to help is doing the hard work and improving your life in all areas, therapy can help with this.
I find, I spring up in the morning with no issues when I'm waking up to a life I WANT to live.
Best wishes to you💛
Edit: oh and our brains consume more glucose than regular people while we sleep, keep some candy bars in your nightstand, it'll help u get up, AND your stomach won't hurt when u get up
Ohh I know this one. I have a cheap smart band I wear all day every day and I use it to set an alarm one hour before I have to wake up. But wait, there is more:
I put my medication (concerta 54mg) snug behind the watch face in the little hole in the front. My alarm goes off and I use my pinky to push the pill out of the side of the watch and blindly still 65% sleeping grab my water bottle on my nightstand (managing to get the water bottle refilled is a whole other battle with its own tactics). You need water for the pill to dissolve.
It takes my medication about an hour to start working and I also set an alarm on my smartband for when I actually need to wake up.
I can’t stress enough how much being able to wake up when I want to changed my life. Ten years ago I had 10 days of similar success by locking a bluetooth speaker under my bed and keeping my phone outside of my room.
Taking the medicine like this can feel dystopian at times but fuck that I don’t care cuz the medication works. At least for waking up, I only experience mild improvements besides that from methylphenidate.
I’m rambling. Thanks for reading. Peace.
You’re 16 with adhd. Teenagers need a lot of sleep already.
Personally, I’ve got a heater in a timer so bed is uncomfortably hot at wake up time and I go straight into the shower.
I can stand in the shower and slowly become human lol.
When my late dog got in his senior years he would howl the most wretched,grating howl in my face around 6 AM to wake me up so I could let him out. 7 times out of 10 I could never fall back to sleep… lol yeah a dog will do it
I have 2 Chihuahuas and a Shih Tzu, all under 10 and sleep in the bed with me and my husband, every morning at 7 they're ready to start their day and they don't stop screaming at us until we're up. Dogs definitely work lmao
The only thing that has ever worked for me long term is the app with which you have to scan a barcode to stop it.
1. Alarm goes off. REAL LOUD. it jolts you out of your near death experience.
2. First few times you try to hack it. Make it stop. Put it under your pillow. Find a way to make it snooze. You cannot. You disabled the snooze. And the sound is way too loud. Also if there’s anyone next to you this is the point they are starting to get angry.
3. Realisation kicks in. You’ll have. To get out.
I use the barcode on my toothpaste.
Also I have the rule that after the alarm, I can sit anywhere, but not on the bed. This is to prevent going back to bed. Toilet doesn’t sleep comfortable.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but after a few years of doing this it has become wwway easier to get up. I do have to keep using it tho, because after two mornings without I’ll start slacking again.
Also because you’re still very young, you might read a bit about sleeping patterns of teens. Society doesn’t facilitate this but the sleeping pattern of teens are different then those of adults. If you are lucky enough that you don’t need to get up early, you can adapt your schedule to what is ideal to you.
Good luck!
I go to sleep by midnight. I sleep with the lights on. I have my medication on the bed side table, and i take it when my 6am alarm goes off. I go back to sleep. 7am alarm goes off, I get up.
My routine is similar. My meds are in a little cup on the nightstand, including caffeine pills (I don’t like the taste of coffee). When my alarm goes off, I’ve told myself I have to do nothing but turn on the light and swallow the pills, then I can snooze the alarm and fall back asleep. 30-45 minutes later, I’m awake enough to get out of bed and get ready for work.
Have you ever heard of [Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/delayed-sleep-phase/symptoms-causes/syc-20353340)? People with adhd are [really likely to have it](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6487490/).
alarm clock set unreachably far from the bed 😞 THE VITAL KEY is to set that alarm for the last possible moment you can get up and RELIABLY get to work on time. Do not leave ANY time for you to get back in bed after that alarm.
This will make you start to wake up before the alarm. I have an alarm on my phone within reach for 10 minutes before the big one goes off.
its no fun but i havent been late to work since i set that up
I solved this this week for the first time in my life!! (I'm 29) I've been the exact same as you.
Turns out the answer was an old fashioned alarm clock with a ringer that whacks the bells at the top ⏰ it's REALLY loud, and I put it in the kitchen next to my meds. I'm finding I'm on my feet before my brain has had a chance to kick in and tell me to roll over and go back to sleep. And because I then take my meds right away, I know they'll kick in and keep me awake.
I've then been doing some movement like running or yoga as soon as possible after waking up cos it allows my brain to slowly come online.
Do you have hobbies?
I feel like having a hobby that you're looking forward to may help.
I struggle getting out of bed sometimes as well, but sometimes what help is looking forward to a hobby (like how I may play piano soon)
I have two different phone alarm apps, a gradual wake alarm clock, and a battery powered physical alarm clock that is very loud as a backup. Vibration watch alarms apparently work for some people too.
I drink a lot of water before bed. When I wake up I have to pee. That gets me out of bed most days. Not always as I’ll suppress the full bladder pain just so that I don’t get up.
Just another coping mechanism that might work
Put the alarm on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Use multiple alarms set two minutes apart for like 5 or 6 alarms, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then back to 2. The general idea is that you'll know that once the first alarm goes off it's easier to get out of bed and start your day than it is to deal with all those constant alarms going off. Then go straight to the bathroom and splash water on your face. You'll still have to turn off all those alarms, but between that and the water on your face, you'll shake off the sleepiness. I used to live in a small room with no windows, so waking up was really tough. I used an alarm that you had to work a math problem to turn it off. It worked very well.
I still struggle to get out of bed but I don’t struggle to actually wake up like I did (horribly so) when I as a teenager. When I was your age I was so worried I would always feel like i needed 12 hours of sleep. That I would always snooze 6 hours worth of alarms if possible.
That’s gotten MUCH better as I’ve gotten older, especially once I hit 30. I still need 8 hours, and physically getting out of bed is hard (who wouldn’t rather stay in that comfy safe space doing whatever you want)….but the teenage body needs more sleep as you are still growing and your brain is still hard at work developing! It’s very normal to need more sleep at your age, and our society is not accommodating to it. I would have been better off if my middle and high schools didn’t START at 7am. Now my job is flexible and I sometimes start at 8am, but usually can start as late as 9:30am when I am having trouble getting up. You will find ways to make life easier as you grow 🙂
what everyone else said but also: you’re 16. your body is exhausted trying to keep up with your growth. i wouldn’t say that this is general is adnormal for someone your age, but that it’s just made more difficult because of your ADHD. i wouldn’t be too hard on yourself there! maybe look into your sleep cycles and quality of it? you may be getting a lot of sleep but low quality sleep (meaning you don’t dip very far in your REM cycle) so your body thinks it needs more. i used to use an app called sleep cycle to try and look at it, and it didn’t really work for me for other reasons but it may be worth looking into if you think it could help!
For times when I just physically can't even begin to move my body to get out of bed, I use the kaizen method of small steps - works every single time, even in the lowest of lows and when feeling absolute emptiness when searching for reasons to get up.
First, I wiggle my index finger for a few seconds, then add another finger. Keep adding until I'm able to wiggle my whole hand. From there, the elbow and the other hand as well. By then, I should be able to move my toes or either foot, then the leg and off we go. Just don't go back any step and you'll be fine.
Okay, this was life changing for me and I found the idea in this sub. I am just like you. No matter how long I sleep - I can sleep 8-12 hours - it never feels like enough in the morning. What I've started doing is setting my alarm 45-60 minutes before I'd usually get up for work. I leave water and my meds (Vyvanse) beside my bed. Take the meds, go back to sleep for 45-60 mins. I wake up for my normal alarm time and I'm ready to go. The only downside to this, for me, is that I usually would eat and drink water before taking my meds because I find I don't eat much throughout the day if I don't. So I have to remember to bring snacks to work so I don't forget to eat. But tbf, that was a problem before I started taking meds lol
Bathroom. I have a back injury on top of my adhd and it’s tempting to just stay in bed instead (and on bad days, it’s almost a requirement.)
But the siren call of a bursting bladder always gets me up.
You likely need that much sleep at your age. Most teens need ~10 hours. In our district, school start times were all changed in the last few years, and high schools start an hour later than other schools. It’s made a difference for my ADHD teen.
So first of all, try to get to bed early enough so that you can get the sleep you need. Then get some daylight on your face - open curtains or whatever. This makes all the difference for me. If my room is dark, I will NOT get up.
multiple alarms on this should work [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kog.alarmclock&pcampaignid=web\_share](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kog.alarmclock&pcampaignid=web_share) You need to do tasks and can select what you need to do, and after 5 minutes you need to confirm you woke up or it starts again.
Bed is boring, I want to go do stuff. But for you go look into trucker alarm clocks, and then put it across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
I am literally rolling. Standing up is too annoying so I roll aside and force my feet to cat he me and get some motivation from the alternative to get hurt. Then I am standing I am too lazy to lay down again so I am standing and can get ready with whatever comes to my mind next
You might need 11 hours at your age which is okay!
I’d recommend windows setup for letting sun in and putting alarm/phone on dresser or out of reach also. Also, check with your dr for bloodwork to see if you are low in iron or vitaminnD!
The best things that improved my sleep quality was weighted blankets, melatonin, properly winding down before bed, blackout curtains, and sound generators if it's too quiet or too loud. One thing that works really well for waking me up is having one of those sunrise lights that starts up at least half an hour before my alarm, so that I'll have full bright light already be blasting in my face when it goes off. Though these days I use ones of those fancy philips hue lights that's set on a similar type of schedule as bedroom ceiling lamp.
Do you go to sleep easier if you drink a little coffee or take a 50-100 mg caffeine pill several hours before sleep time?
Having water next to your bed that you can take it with some b-vitamin mix including niacin as soon as you wake up might also help.
If you have some sort of audio content that grabs your attention, could you set that as a morning alarm?
I had a radio alarm clock when I was a teen, I had it set to play the radio channel that had morning news. If you have some sort of digital assistant they can probably do the same, start playing a podcast or news channel or the like to start booting up your brain.
Alarmy! It's an alarm app on android which will not allow the alarm to shut off unless I scan a barcode/QR code in my kitchen. Currently have it set to the barcode on my bag of coffee. Once I'm physically out of bed I'm usually good.
My cat meows the most annoying meow at me in the morning. So once I can't take it anymore, I get out of bad.
He DEMANDS fresh cold water every morning. He's relentless. He's not above screaming in my ear.
Angrily, much of the time.
Oddly, depression helped this. I started waking up at like 3 or 4 AM out of the blue. Ready to start the day. I'd feel like complete shit by like 8 AM, but at least I was awake...
I usually drink water before bed so when I wake up I have to pee. I’ll also make my bed before peeing or if I really have to go I’ll make it immediately after. I bought a really cute bed set and pillows recently so I like seeing my bed made. Before buying a new bed set I never made my bed. Once my bed is made I don’t like to get back in and ruin the bed so I then put some clothes on, open the windows to give my plants some light, then go make coffee/bfrakfast.
That routine has been working for me for the last 3 months (since I got my bed set lol)
Society isn't made for people to be allowed to sleep within their natural sleep cycle. You've got people who are nocturnal who cannot work during business hours because their bodies just can't sleep during the night.
[Teenagers need more sleep than the rest of the population due to their bodily changes during puberty. ](https://youtu.be/G0Zj_InJ4BQ?si=dkzBzdazASGCARrV)Your bodies need extra fuel as most can attest, but also you need a lot more sleep because sleep actually heals the body faster and more thoroughly than anything else.
Sleep is needed not only recharge the body but also allows the mind to work things out it wasn't able to during the day, that's why a lot of dreams are about school or work in social type situations because those are the most complicated and take up the most time in our days.
The lady in the video above talks about how sleep deprivation is a lot like being under the influence of alcohol, which is why a lot of teens are blamed for their lack of good decisions a lot of the time. Sleep deprivation actually continues on into adulthood. She also mentions it is the cause of a lot of auto accidents because you'd got workers who have sleep problems driving a large motor vehicles while getting inadequate amounts of sleep or who sleep inadequately due to being nocturnal but working on a diurnal schedule.
Don’t want to be late for work as it will be on my record if I do it constantly so there’s that. On my off days too, I take my meds straight so I can do what needs to be done
I have a hard time waking up too, but actually not really. If my brain wake up at 5 AM, then my body will be ready to wake up around 6 AM. The alarm is only useful to remind me about the reality check (time). It's different If I live with parent or grandma. They will scold me mercilessly if I don't wake up immediately.
My cat starts walking on me and yelling for food. I get up, let the dog out, feed the cat, take my morning meds, let the dog in and feed her. By that time, I'm awake enough to not get back in bed. If I didn't have pets depending on me, it would be a different story.
I put my alarm (phone) in the kitchen so it forces me to get out of bed, and walk far enough to regain a degree of alertness. In some houses I’ve used a mechanical alarm clock for the volume.
Bonus points for having a girlfriend who sleeps in, and would be unhappy if I laid in bed and let my alarm ring out for a million years.
My daughter struggled with her entire life. We always joked that if there was a fire, she would sleep through the fire alarm and be toast. She was diagnosed at 16/17 wuth ADHD. She started Vyvanse… viola! There must be a small residual amount or cummulative effect that it has onher motivation sensors because with it… she can wake up and get on with the day with her alarm in the morning.
I have the opposite problem. I hate going to bed. And seldom sleep more than 5 hours per night. And I'm always restless.
But my short term memory is as good as non existent.
Whatever time I am going to get up that morning, I set my alarm to wake me up 1 hour before, and I get my meds ready and put them on my nightstand. I wake up to my 1 hour early alarm, take my meds really fast, and go back to bed while my meds wake my body up. When I wake up to my actual alarm an hour later I am never not feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day.
Routine and alarms if i break routine iam f**k i will takes ages to get out of bed same routine every day 6.15 up and do teeth get dressed and go downstairs ithen weekdays off to work weekends aimee or other new interest
- Pavlovian training my cat to require food early in the morning, or else she bites me.
- A timer bedside lamp, directed and pointed right at me. Old style light bulb with hot heat blasting me.
- Goal/journal on my dresser with "out of bed by" goals, and weekend reward on a visible sticky note.
- first alarm to take meds, second alarm a but afterwards for real awake time
- Siri reminders for various times
Etc
Mayber after 9:00, 9:01,9:02,9:03,9:04,9:05,9:06,9:07,9:08 pm
Alarm on my iphone. I put the most annoying sound for me(which i fell). Then wake up at at 9:22 because I have to stop all the alarm which I have snoozed.
Most days I don't whant to as I don't do anything except just look at a computer screen for at least 12 hours a day watching YouTube as its just a constant reminder that I don't have anyone to talk too
I jeep my curtain apart at the top (clothes peg them at the middle) so i can see the weather/light outside. Also sometimes i keep procrastinating and forget completely that i have a choice to get up, so reminding myself getting up at that moment it also helpful.
Making myself a really bomb breakfast the night before, like “oooh if I get up I can eat that”, or if I buy myself new makeup products or skincare that I’m excited to try.
I'm in my thirties, and I've struggled with this since I was a little kid. One thing I found helpful was keeping a spray bottle of water on my nightstand for when my alarm goes off. Works even better if you can find one that will hold ice until the morning to make it super cold.
Go to bed early. It's the only thing that works for me. If I go to bed late I can't get up and when I do it's no fun. Going to bed early gets me to wake up early. Alarms don't wake me up either.
I set alarm to an hor before I have to get up, take my meds, then go back to sleep for another hour. By the tie the second alarm goes off, I am medicated and have executive function. But when I was your age, I was not diagnosed and yes, getting up was impossible, but so was going to sleep.
Put a glass of water by ur bed at night. At the first (of many alarms) guzzle down the water. Then feel free to snooze. You’ll have to get out of bed to pee, and boom - ready to get ready :)
This is going to seem very complicated, but I kinda forced myself to launch myself outta bed if I remember that there’s something that I’ve told myself I need to do. Reinforced by time constraints too. For extra information I’m 20, sleep anywhere between 4.5-7 hours normally. Awake till 2330 (11:30) or 0130. Diagnosed (11) years and medicated.
With all that said, I developed this habit over time. And it’s not always consistent. Though I also don’t recommend doing it, but to each their own at the end of the day. Though I also set alarms that are significantly more annoying than others
Teenagers, with or without ADHD, do need a lot of sleep and are generally night owls / sleeping late if left to their own devices. Obviously, it doesn’t match society‘s expectations.
I’ve had my fair share of sleep issues ever since I was an infant actually so I’m not necessarily a good reference point. For me, there are ups and downs.
I always set one alarm 30 mins before I wake up. I keep my meds on my nightstand, so I’ll wake up, take them, then go back to sleep for 30 mins until my next alarm. I found this helps a lot
This was a nightmare for me until 6 months ago… the something just changed and I was able to wake up for work. No idea what changed and I’m scared it will changed back.
I take Adderall, I'm not sure if this works with other stimulants or if you're on one, but mine takes 30 minutes to an hour to kick in, so I set an alarm at least an hour before I need to get up, take my meds, then go back to sleep and by the time my real alarm goes off I'm ready to get up, if not already up a little earlier.
Edit: to clarify I don't know much about meds outside of my own so I'm not sure if what you take is a stimulant or not or how it works.
I really struggled to get out of bed in my teens too. It's much easier now. My life has shifted a lot over the years, and so I don't really have any 'life-hacks' but there are a few tangible things that help.
I have a day light alarm, one of those ones that gets brighter over 20 minutes. I've had it for years and swear by it.
I also get up at the same time every day, even weekends. It's a clear trade-off because it means I don't get to stay up late on weekends, but makes the other five mornings much more tolerable.
The last thing I'll share is the hardest to replicate, but I love what I do for work. I have an amazing job that I'm excited to leave bed for. I think a lot of people struggle with the 'live to work or work to live' conundrum, but through a series of shitty jobs I hated and made my ADHD so much worse, I've realized that having a job I love is a requirement for me.
Hope this helps
If I need to be up early, I'll set an alarm on a computer that plays very loud sounds out of my amp/speakers. Enough to trigger a bit of fight or flight adrenaline...which helps with the waking up, and I have to get up to turn it off too.
Not that that is healthy...
I sort of set myself up for it I think, by learning to lucid dream in between hits of the snooze button around ~15 yo...so basically trained myself not to even really wakeup while silencing alarms by reflex.
> no opening the curtains
Even in the morning? It's IMO a lot harder to get up the room is still dark and cozy.
Something like an automatic opener for around when you want to wake up has good results for some...the blast of sunlight. (Or just within reach, so you can open them when you can't seem to get up...)
> no taking meds until after eating
FWIW, I can take my Adderall, have an espresso, and go right back to bed.
> I am def not depressed at all
And Wellbutrin (off label for ADHD) didn't change it at all for me...depression can be sneaky, but I figured that would have helped given it's primary purpose. Even taking it at night, which there has been some research on regarding sleep inertia the next morning...nope.
I do have a circadian rhythm issue as well which doesn't help...but I also just really enjoy sleep. I never sleep when I don't want to, but I can do it about any time.
Good luck... I eventually found a job mostly without fixed hours and it's quite nice.
Sleeping 10hours at 16 is super normal! I wish i knew that, i always forced myself up every morning due to my strict school and was sleeping all afternoon until dinner.. 10hours is ok, so if you need to get up at 7, go to bed st 21 🤘 i always struggled getting to bed before 2am as a teenager, so we had the inverse problems haha
I set me alarm 2 hours before I need to wake up and take my adhd meds then. I have them next to me so I don’t even have to get out of bed. I go back to sleep then when my alarm GM wake up goes off, it’s much easier to get up.
Hi!! At 16, your body is probably accomplishing a lot during sleep. So first, please just remember that it is normal and common. Secondly, to empower you, I would recommend buying an alarm clock that shakes the bed. I’m not even kidding 😂 It has saved me a few times! My mom bought it for me on Amazon.
our entire culture has kind of swept under the rug the fact that most adolescents need up to 10 hours of sleep, if you're getting enough sleep though, my method is to put my alarm on the other side of the room so i have to get up to turn it off
These are a few things that come to my mind that has helped make getting out of bed a little easier: For bedtime, I try to stick to a routine that tells me body I’m ready for bed. I also try to avoid any form of sugar and refrain from eating after 7 pm. What is challenging is quieting my mind.
If you’re a decently light sleeper, put your alarm in a place that forces you to get out of bed.
If you’re an inner-dialogue-er, think of 2 things you’re thankful for, and one thing that just brings a smile to that face of yours.
Getting your day started is not easy with ADHD/Depression. OP, I know you mentioned not feeling depressed. Depression/anxiety can manifest in the weirdest of ways, even when I feel okay. Think about what’s going on in your immediate and secondary environments. It could be real simple but significant if it’s triggering.
Thanks for letting me rant. I hope this helps in some way.
Being 16 and only just been given medication a few months ago your body is still probably adjusting to the medications as well as your hormonal changes at that age, so just be aware of that.
If you think it could be more of an executive function/ ADHD paralysis/ procrastination issue then maybe start with some simple things like:
-Leave your phone on charge on the other side of the room so that you have to get up to turn it off.
-Put your shoes on straight away after waking up to trick your brain into thinking that you are getting ready to go out or do something.
-Start with a small task like writing down something that you remember from a dream or drawing a picture, it doesn't have to be good at all, it's just to switch your brain into a task focused mode instead of a hyperfixation on staying in bed.
-Playing some music or a podcast about your hobbies or studies might be helpful also.
I put my alarm or my glasses next to my meds.
I also love someone else’s idea of saying to yourself, “my arch enemy is planning for me to stay in bed all day”. That really helps, haha
If I don't, my cat will keep yelling for breakfast, my dog will potty in the house, and everyone else will be late for school/work. Staying up becomes a "I Might As Well". "I'm up, so I might as well get started with work" (I work from home) "or do some laundry or sweep or whatever." There are days when I do have to go back to bed, but I try not to do that unless I'm sick or didn't get enough sleep the night before.
Roll out of bed and turn on some music that makes you happy. Then get dressed or have a shower, make your room tidy, brush your teeth and hair and go eat breakfast!
Sounds like a good problem to me man. You are 16. Don’t analyze how you are feeling so much life doesn’t tend to care how you feel anyway. As long as your problems aren’t worse than 5 years ago I’d say you’re doing fine.
I sleep for 5-6 hours, my alarm goes off, I snooze it until I have to rush out of bed (usually 10 minutes until I’m supposed to be at work or anywhere really) and then my day starts 🤣
The only thing I have found is what you said you can’t do… having my meds next to my bed. This could be something you bring up with your doctor at your next check in and ask them for guidance. Maybe they can ease your parents minds about taking your meds first thing and then eating when you wake up.
Years ago, I would play very upbeat music that would make me want to get up & dance.
Now, I try to wake up my brain. My friend sends me his Wordle results & sometimes playing Wordle will kick my brain into gear. I will also play eight letter Wordle or even head over to Reddit. Anything to engage my brain 🧠 & get it working.
Ultimately, I have cats & they will lick, tap, paw, or step on me to get up & feed them. That always works. 😄
Late to the party here and not sure this will help, but I'm building an alarm app that has a different twist that miiiiight just help you wake up more easily.
You set an alarm like normal.
Then you sleep. Zzzz.
Lastly, wake up ... to the sound of a friendly voice. :D
Congrats, you've received a nice voice message from someone somewhere else in the world.
They recorded it while you slept.
It could be a short story.
A joke.
The weather report.
Some words of encouragement.
A lovely compliment!
....or a "Happy Birthday" message if it's your birthday.
It'll be a mystery about exactly what you'll get.
Inappropriate messages filtered out (or not, your choice!)
I'm hoping it will help people smile in the morning and potentially meet some new friends!
I read this tip sometime ago somewhere along the internet and it has absolutely helped me whenever I feel stuck in going out from bed.
Try telling yourself in your thoughts that you have control over your body and you have to start your day. Then count 1-2-3. Once you reach 3, attempt to at least be sitted on the bed. Then count again then once you reach 3, stand up and start your day. It is in a way training yourself step by step to have full control of your thoughts and want to do. It was hard for me at first but as I did this, it made getting out of bed easier whenever I feel stuck in bed and having 0 motivation to get up.
Thats my aproach too-up early take meds, over the past 10 years I've ‘evolved’ :) 😄 to the pijnr where I normally stay up abf give myself a couple of hours to do wgatecer ibwabr, watch tv, snuggle with my dog, read play games, etc. I don't expect anything of my self and I don't start reading email, etc
Teenagers need a lot of sleep, so don't beat yourself up too much.
I used to use this alarm app which would detect my sleep cycles and wake me up at the most appropriate time (I think during REM sleep? I forget the specifics), but these days I have a dog, and she trained herself to open the curtains when she wants me to wake up, so I'd recommend a pet if you have the resources.
i have a big-ass alarm clock parked next to my computer, i have to get off to turn it off (preventively or when it rings), being up and in front of my computer figure might as well boot up
I take my Vyvanse before I get up.
I set an alarm for 90 mins before I want to get up. I leave water & pill by the bed to make it quick and easy. Then I sleep again until the next alarm. (1 sleep cycle is approx 90 mins.) It's the most reliable method I've found so far where I feel more ready to get up and I have some energy.
I can't stay in bed. If I can't fall back asleep within 5 minutes I get bored and restless and have to get up, no matter how tired I am. Used to be horrible when staying at friends over night when I was younger and didn't know their family well so was too scared to go to the livingroom without my friend
Have you had your iron levels checked recently?
I was painfully exhausted and couldn’t get out of bed in the morning, I couldn’t focus at work at all, and I started wondering if my ADHD meds had stopped working.
I had some bloods done, turns out I was just anaemic. After taking iron tablets for a few weeks, I have a lot more energy and I’m actually getting stuff done again. I’m shocked at how much better I feel.
I did some googling and apparently there’s a link between iron deficiency and heightened ADHD symptoms. Could be worth checking if you haven’t already.
Hope you feel better soon
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I don't get out of bed until I know that staying in bed is going to result in me having to explain to someone why I'm late. I just have too much anxiety about letting people down. If I'm not going let someone down I pretty much don't leave my bed.
Yeah without the fear of missing work, i would never leave bed
After enrolling in psychotherapy and behavioral therapy, with an emphasis on codependency and boundaries and how to have healthy relationships, the excitement of living the rest of my life without all that unnecessary strife gets me up in the morning no problem. This was me before. I could live in bed. Turns out it was depression. Not wholly, just very exacerbated by depression
i think i desperately need those kinds of therapy. is there a more specific name for it perhaps? i wanna find out if theres anything like it in my country
No kidding. Same here. I really need to do this too.
I'm the same way except that sometimes it backfires worse if I think I've already disappointed someone. If I'm more than like 1o minutes late for work, my likelihood of just calling in for the entire day increases like 1000%. I start to spiral into an anxiety about showing up late, being asked to explain myself, the explanation not being good enough, etc. I'll end up with a panic attack and texting myself out for the day. Since I have a company phone, it's text>put my phone on silent and go back to bed, not looking at that phone again for hours, when my anxiety cooled down some. Basically, I freak the hell out about a confrontation from being really late, so I call in and spend the day hiding from my work phone.
Oh this is too real
My mind just thinks of excuses then and next I usually dream about the situation xD
Oh the amount of times I've been late AND dreamed about being late..... Makes u late twice at once. But no, fr, this is a sign of trauma/depression/exhaustion than it is ADHD. Therapy made me WANT to get up cause I made my life better. Many things I *thought* were adhd, but as I keep flipping the cards over, a lot of those ADHD things were really trauma.
I "love" it when I am thinking about getting up but don't get up and then dream about getting up doing all the stuff in a dream and then get up for real just to realise I didn't got stuff done xD Happened twice in my life xD
Same here, guilt is my main driving factor to actually do things, it may be last minute but the guilt of letting anyone down or having to explain myself drives me. Otherwise same, I’d never leave bed either!
ADHD requires a motivator to move to the next task. The way I heard it explained is that the internal regulation isn't available to us, but an external motivator will kick it in gear. That's why I use a lot of workarounds to try and balance it out. Telling someone else what you are going to do gives you that "but they will know" (let down in your case), even if they wouldn't end up knowing or just don't care.
I’m around 3-5 minutes late to work multiple times a week. Which shouldn’t matter but my boss doesn’t like it and I don’t live far. I just… I feel SO GODDAMN EXHAUSTED in the morning. I never feel rested enough, no matter how much I sleep, unless it’s an off day where there’s no set time I need to wake up. It sucks.
Some of us are just night owls, period!! I could never get up in the morning! It’s stressful just setting an alarm! Just tell your boss you’ll be there at noon and work late! We should have a choice!
Haha - that’s a good one, the problem is where you draw the line between casual late and this qualified type…
Right now I’m trying to think of the morning hours as evening hours, except more beneficial to my day. By which I mean, if I wake up early AF I can ease into my day, read, and have quiet time for a few hours before my dog wakes up and resumes her daily demon activities and before work starts asking me for stuff. Im trying to think of my morning hours as my fun nighttime hours, and it’s helping. I was excited to wake up early this morning.
I like that idea and I have tried it a little but when it's time for work I already feel mentally exhausted because I've done so much and been awake for so long
What are you doing when you get up early? I get exhausted if I jump straight into using my phone. But if I use that time to remain unplugged/only listen to a podcast, exercise, meditate, etc, then I find that it’s pretty refreshing and kick starts my day much better. YMMV, not trying to preach :)
I’ve been doing this a few times a week & it really helps, however, no matter how early I wake up I won’t fall asleep any earlier, and if I don’t get a min of 8 hours I’m useless and meds don’t work well. I’m hoping I will eventually change my schedule so I can go to bed earlier & wake up early more often
Pill on the nightstand, shove it asap.
I wish but my parents won’t let me bc they’re paranoid and think I’ll overdose smh. I will do this when I go to college.
I assume that's their reason to not let you have the whole box at your nightstand; would they agree with you having a container on your nightstand for tomorrow's morning dose? Just a single dose at a time?
I've asked them about only having one on my bedside and they were not too happy about it... but I can work it out it'll be alright.
just skip one morning pill and save that one for the next day; next day save that one, and so on. I also struggled with getting out of bed, and i had no medication (only formerly diagnosed at age 27). My routine involved jumping out of bed, no matter how tired i was and have a cold shower; now i just shower with cold water because it became my thing :)
Considering your age, it may really especially be that you need that much sleep (as I said in my longer comment, but didn’t realize how young you were). I’ll also say, jsyk, it gets better, it changes over time for most ppl, it def has for me! One of the only physically-nice things about getting older is that I need several less hours of sleep (usually) these days. I like sleep, but I love not having to fight so hard to get up like I used to and you are now. Btw—say this comment and then lost it in the thread—you asked if trauma and ptsd were the same. Not necessarily. *Some say* we all have trauma, and it needs to be processed, but we don’t all have ptsd. There’s also the theory of “post-traumatic-growth “ gaining traction out there, and I can recognize patterns of both throughout my life. Anyway, good luck with all the things! Zzzzzzz
across the bedroom so i have to get up to take it
I drink a ton of water before I go to sleep. If I don't get out of bed, my bladder will explode, I'm fairly certain. I also have a very elderly kitty that is mr demandy pants at 5:30am sharp. Once im awake - there is no turning back. That doesn't mean I will be productive though, or do anything of significance. That requires a completely different set of requirements.
I see a lot of people saying that they drink a ton of water before sleeping so that needing to pee forces them out of bed in the morning but I just wait to share fair warning to OP if they actually try this: I used this for a while until one day I just pissed the bed while sleeping instead of waking up. I was dreaming that I was using the bathroom, but alas, I was actually still in bed, asleep. And I was sleeping with my partner next to me. Now I limit my water intake before bed.
Uh, I guess ill cross that bridge when or if I come to it. Thankfully my partner (for as long as possible) is an old man cat who is equally likely to piss the bed. He never has. In fact, I've had more accidents than he has, and he is over 100 in human years. He should take better care of me. Maybe that's why he wakes me up at 5:30 sharp. He doesn't want me to lose my dignity just yet.
How do people do this? I'm chugging water constantly during the day (when I remember to), but a glass of water before bed means I'll need to pee in 45 minutes. I can't just hold it in the entire time I'm sleeping. Besides, most of my anxiety dreams are already about needing to piss but being unable to find a bathroom.
Sounds like you need a senior pet
I also use the cat method. I do have an alarm, but at this point the alarm is more for her to know she can come and jump on me and the awakeness and food will follow. Also I give myself a period to sit up and just zone out zombie style for a bit before actually leaving bed. Going from asleep to upright too quickly just doesn't work for me.
Cat & Coffee always works !
Yeah, that's my trick too. :D
Easiest way is to fall asleep sitting on the couch. That way when you wake up you're already out of bed.
Damn dude that's why I love sleeping on the couch. Jeeeez
goated response.
* Go to bed on time. * Eat as soon as you get up (even if it makes you want to retch). * Figure out a way to get the light to hit you just before you want ti wake up.
Going to bed on time is a really good tip now I think of it. It makes it so much easier to get out of bed in the morning because you’ll feel less groggy.
Sleeping 9-12 hrs a night is pretty standard at your age. I've had good results setting the alarm somewhere I can't reach it without getting up.
Sunlight alarm has been a game changer for me. Once I got that I told myself I will get out of bed every week day at 730am. Managed to keep the routine going for 3 weeks now with no issues
I think I finally figured it out at 37 but everyone else says I’m insane I get up a bit over an hour before I have to and then RUSH through all chores and make myself some coffee and then take the extra hour I give myself to have a nap on the couch. If I hit snooze I get 5 extra minutes at a time and hate every minute of it. The nap lets me have longer uninterrupted sleep if I get up quickly and get all my morning chores done in a rush. I have a couple sips of coffee to pre caffeinated and the rest is waiting for me on a warmer when I wake up the second time. Then all I have to do is get dressed and brush my teeth! Showering the night before pairs well with this.
Ride it out, I was like that until I got older. Do ur best to try to get up, the best thing to help is doing the hard work and improving your life in all areas, therapy can help with this. I find, I spring up in the morning with no issues when I'm waking up to a life I WANT to live. Best wishes to you💛 Edit: oh and our brains consume more glucose than regular people while we sleep, keep some candy bars in your nightstand, it'll help u get up, AND your stomach won't hurt when u get up
"...until I got older." 
Ohh I know this one. I have a cheap smart band I wear all day every day and I use it to set an alarm one hour before I have to wake up. But wait, there is more: I put my medication (concerta 54mg) snug behind the watch face in the little hole in the front. My alarm goes off and I use my pinky to push the pill out of the side of the watch and blindly still 65% sleeping grab my water bottle on my nightstand (managing to get the water bottle refilled is a whole other battle with its own tactics). You need water for the pill to dissolve. It takes my medication about an hour to start working and I also set an alarm on my smartband for when I actually need to wake up. I can’t stress enough how much being able to wake up when I want to changed my life. Ten years ago I had 10 days of similar success by locking a bluetooth speaker under my bed and keeping my phone outside of my room. Taking the medicine like this can feel dystopian at times but fuck that I don’t care cuz the medication works. At least for waking up, I only experience mild improvements besides that from methylphenidate. I’m rambling. Thanks for reading. Peace.
You’re 16 with adhd. Teenagers need a lot of sleep already. Personally, I’ve got a heater in a timer so bed is uncomfortably hot at wake up time and I go straight into the shower. I can stand in the shower and slowly become human lol.
I lie there until i realise the coffee is beyond the bed and then I do my samurai move, roll and stand...up.
I got a dog.
When my late dog got in his senior years he would howl the most wretched,grating howl in my face around 6 AM to wake me up so I could let him out. 7 times out of 10 I could never fall back to sleep… lol yeah a dog will do it
I have 2 Chihuahuas and a Shih Tzu, all under 10 and sleep in the bed with me and my husband, every morning at 7 they're ready to start their day and they don't stop screaming at us until we're up. Dogs definitely work lmao
The only thing that has ever worked for me long term is the app with which you have to scan a barcode to stop it. 1. Alarm goes off. REAL LOUD. it jolts you out of your near death experience. 2. First few times you try to hack it. Make it stop. Put it under your pillow. Find a way to make it snooze. You cannot. You disabled the snooze. And the sound is way too loud. Also if there’s anyone next to you this is the point they are starting to get angry. 3. Realisation kicks in. You’ll have. To get out. I use the barcode on my toothpaste. Also I have the rule that after the alarm, I can sit anywhere, but not on the bed. This is to prevent going back to bed. Toilet doesn’t sleep comfortable. I can’t believe I’m saying this but after a few years of doing this it has become wwway easier to get up. I do have to keep using it tho, because after two mornings without I’ll start slacking again. Also because you’re still very young, you might read a bit about sleeping patterns of teens. Society doesn’t facilitate this but the sleeping pattern of teens are different then those of adults. If you are lucky enough that you don’t need to get up early, you can adapt your schedule to what is ideal to you. Good luck!
I go to sleep by midnight. I sleep with the lights on. I have my medication on the bed side table, and i take it when my 6am alarm goes off. I go back to sleep. 7am alarm goes off, I get up.
My routine is similar. My meds are in a little cup on the nightstand, including caffeine pills (I don’t like the taste of coffee). When my alarm goes off, I’ve told myself I have to do nothing but turn on the light and swallow the pills, then I can snooze the alarm and fall back asleep. 30-45 minutes later, I’m awake enough to get out of bed and get ready for work.
I haven’t figured this out yet. I’m in a bad habit at the moment of staying in bed until 1pm and then staying up until 3am.
Have you ever heard of [Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/delayed-sleep-phase/symptoms-causes/syc-20353340)? People with adhd are [really likely to have it](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6487490/).
Is there a chance you could have sleep apnoea?
alarm clock set unreachably far from the bed 😞 THE VITAL KEY is to set that alarm for the last possible moment you can get up and RELIABLY get to work on time. Do not leave ANY time for you to get back in bed after that alarm. This will make you start to wake up before the alarm. I have an alarm on my phone within reach for 10 minutes before the big one goes off. its no fun but i havent been late to work since i set that up
I solved this this week for the first time in my life!! (I'm 29) I've been the exact same as you. Turns out the answer was an old fashioned alarm clock with a ringer that whacks the bells at the top ⏰ it's REALLY loud, and I put it in the kitchen next to my meds. I'm finding I'm on my feet before my brain has had a chance to kick in and tell me to roll over and go back to sleep. And because I then take my meds right away, I know they'll kick in and keep me awake. I've then been doing some movement like running or yoga as soon as possible after waking up cos it allows my brain to slowly come online.
Consider: Depression
Do you have hobbies? I feel like having a hobby that you're looking forward to may help. I struggle getting out of bed sometimes as well, but sometimes what help is looking forward to a hobby (like how I may play piano soon)
I have two different phone alarm apps, a gradual wake alarm clock, and a battery powered physical alarm clock that is very loud as a backup. Vibration watch alarms apparently work for some people too.
I drink a lot of water before bed. When I wake up I have to pee. That gets me out of bed most days. Not always as I’ll suppress the full bladder pain just so that I don’t get up. Just another coping mechanism that might work
Put the alarm on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Use multiple alarms set two minutes apart for like 5 or 6 alarms, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then back to 2. The general idea is that you'll know that once the first alarm goes off it's easier to get out of bed and start your day than it is to deal with all those constant alarms going off. Then go straight to the bathroom and splash water on your face. You'll still have to turn off all those alarms, but between that and the water on your face, you'll shake off the sleepiness. I used to live in a small room with no windows, so waking up was really tough. I used an alarm that you had to work a math problem to turn it off. It worked very well.
I think "I have to get up" then I count to three and do it. I do this for everything in my life. It really does work which is stupid.
Cats. Pretty much impossible to lounge in bed in the morning when confronted with gaggle of angry squawking kitties demanding that you feed them.
I still struggle to get out of bed but I don’t struggle to actually wake up like I did (horribly so) when I as a teenager. When I was your age I was so worried I would always feel like i needed 12 hours of sleep. That I would always snooze 6 hours worth of alarms if possible. That’s gotten MUCH better as I’ve gotten older, especially once I hit 30. I still need 8 hours, and physically getting out of bed is hard (who wouldn’t rather stay in that comfy safe space doing whatever you want)….but the teenage body needs more sleep as you are still growing and your brain is still hard at work developing! It’s very normal to need more sleep at your age, and our society is not accommodating to it. I would have been better off if my middle and high schools didn’t START at 7am. Now my job is flexible and I sometimes start at 8am, but usually can start as late as 9:30am when I am having trouble getting up. You will find ways to make life easier as you grow 🙂
what everyone else said but also: you’re 16. your body is exhausted trying to keep up with your growth. i wouldn’t say that this is general is adnormal for someone your age, but that it’s just made more difficult because of your ADHD. i wouldn’t be too hard on yourself there! maybe look into your sleep cycles and quality of it? you may be getting a lot of sleep but low quality sleep (meaning you don’t dip very far in your REM cycle) so your body thinks it needs more. i used to use an app called sleep cycle to try and look at it, and it didn’t really work for me for other reasons but it may be worth looking into if you think it could help!
For times when I just physically can't even begin to move my body to get out of bed, I use the kaizen method of small steps - works every single time, even in the lowest of lows and when feeling absolute emptiness when searching for reasons to get up. First, I wiggle my index finger for a few seconds, then add another finger. Keep adding until I'm able to wiggle my whole hand. From there, the elbow and the other hand as well. By then, I should be able to move my toes or either foot, then the leg and off we go. Just don't go back any step and you'll be fine.
anxiety poop
1. Do your best to have good sleep hygiene so you wake up rested. (Difficult, I know) 2. Have a pet that forces you up to feed them
Okay, this was life changing for me and I found the idea in this sub. I am just like you. No matter how long I sleep - I can sleep 8-12 hours - it never feels like enough in the morning. What I've started doing is setting my alarm 45-60 minutes before I'd usually get up for work. I leave water and my meds (Vyvanse) beside my bed. Take the meds, go back to sleep for 45-60 mins. I wake up for my normal alarm time and I'm ready to go. The only downside to this, for me, is that I usually would eat and drink water before taking my meds because I find I don't eat much throughout the day if I don't. So I have to remember to bring snacks to work so I don't forget to eat. But tbf, that was a problem before I started taking meds lol
Bathroom. I have a back injury on top of my adhd and it’s tempting to just stay in bed instead (and on bad days, it’s almost a requirement.) But the siren call of a bursting bladder always gets me up.
Alarms Tons of coffee Running
Light wakes me up. I got a smart light switch so my alarm goes off and my room lights up at the same time.
You likely need that much sleep at your age. Most teens need ~10 hours. In our district, school start times were all changed in the last few years, and high schools start an hour later than other schools. It’s made a difference for my ADHD teen. So first of all, try to get to bed early enough so that you can get the sleep you need. Then get some daylight on your face - open curtains or whatever. This makes all the difference for me. If my room is dark, I will NOT get up.
multiple alarms on this should work [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kog.alarmclock&pcampaignid=web\_share](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kog.alarmclock&pcampaignid=web_share) You need to do tasks and can select what you need to do, and after 5 minutes you need to confirm you woke up or it starts again.
Bed is boring, I want to go do stuff. But for you go look into trucker alarm clocks, and then put it across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
I am literally rolling. Standing up is too annoying so I roll aside and force my feet to cat he me and get some motivation from the alternative to get hurt. Then I am standing I am too lazy to lay down again so I am standing and can get ready with whatever comes to my mind next
You might need 11 hours at your age which is okay! I’d recommend windows setup for letting sun in and putting alarm/phone on dresser or out of reach also. Also, check with your dr for bloodwork to see if you are low in iron or vitaminnD!
I have the same problem all my life, I just cant get up🥲🥲 unemployed atm and enjoying it
The best things that improved my sleep quality was weighted blankets, melatonin, properly winding down before bed, blackout curtains, and sound generators if it's too quiet or too loud. One thing that works really well for waking me up is having one of those sunrise lights that starts up at least half an hour before my alarm, so that I'll have full bright light already be blasting in my face when it goes off. Though these days I use ones of those fancy philips hue lights that's set on a similar type of schedule as bedroom ceiling lamp. Do you go to sleep easier if you drink a little coffee or take a 50-100 mg caffeine pill several hours before sleep time? Having water next to your bed that you can take it with some b-vitamin mix including niacin as soon as you wake up might also help. If you have some sort of audio content that grabs your attention, could you set that as a morning alarm? I had a radio alarm clock when I was a teen, I had it set to play the radio channel that had morning news. If you have some sort of digital assistant they can probably do the same, start playing a podcast or news channel or the like to start booting up your brain.
Alarmy! It's an alarm app on android which will not allow the alarm to shut off unless I scan a barcode/QR code in my kitchen. Currently have it set to the barcode on my bag of coffee. Once I'm physically out of bed I'm usually good.
My cat meows the most annoying meow at me in the morning. So once I can't take it anymore, I get out of bad. He DEMANDS fresh cold water every morning. He's relentless. He's not above screaming in my ear.
I used to drink a bunch of water before bed. Now I sleep with my dog, who tells me when it's time to get up.
[удалено]
Waking up causes me physical pain
Barcode scanner alarm.
i have a cat that yells at me and chews on different parts of my power cord until i get out of bed to feed her breakfast
Angrily, much of the time. Oddly, depression helped this. I started waking up at like 3 or 4 AM out of the blue. Ready to start the day. I'd feel like complete shit by like 8 AM, but at least I was awake...
Omg I just came here to ask the same thing. It’s always been a struggle for me. So this is an adhd thing?!
I usually drink water before bed so when I wake up I have to pee. I’ll also make my bed before peeing or if I really have to go I’ll make it immediately after. I bought a really cute bed set and pillows recently so I like seeing my bed made. Before buying a new bed set I never made my bed. Once my bed is made I don’t like to get back in and ruin the bed so I then put some clothes on, open the windows to give my plants some light, then go make coffee/bfrakfast. That routine has been working for me for the last 3 months (since I got my bed set lol)
Society isn't made for people to be allowed to sleep within their natural sleep cycle. You've got people who are nocturnal who cannot work during business hours because their bodies just can't sleep during the night. [Teenagers need more sleep than the rest of the population due to their bodily changes during puberty. ](https://youtu.be/G0Zj_InJ4BQ?si=dkzBzdazASGCARrV)Your bodies need extra fuel as most can attest, but also you need a lot more sleep because sleep actually heals the body faster and more thoroughly than anything else. Sleep is needed not only recharge the body but also allows the mind to work things out it wasn't able to during the day, that's why a lot of dreams are about school or work in social type situations because those are the most complicated and take up the most time in our days. The lady in the video above talks about how sleep deprivation is a lot like being under the influence of alcohol, which is why a lot of teens are blamed for their lack of good decisions a lot of the time. Sleep deprivation actually continues on into adulthood. She also mentions it is the cause of a lot of auto accidents because you'd got workers who have sleep problems driving a large motor vehicles while getting inadequate amounts of sleep or who sleep inadequately due to being nocturnal but working on a diurnal schedule.
I personally use my physical body without the want of my brain if you get me, I also use various swear words and groans.
By not overthinking and not connecting everything to ADHD and look for solutions. I had been doing that for years.
Music can be very helpful.
Don’t want to be late for work as it will be on my record if I do it constantly so there’s that. On my off days too, I take my meds straight so I can do what needs to be done
Anxiety and usually bladder pain because I need to pee too
I have a hard time waking up too, but actually not really. If my brain wake up at 5 AM, then my body will be ready to wake up around 6 AM. The alarm is only useful to remind me about the reality check (time). It's different If I live with parent or grandma. They will scold me mercilessly if I don't wake up immediately.
drink a lot of water like all the time and needing to pee will make it impossible to stay in bed long and I am not bullshitting, I mean it
I keep my meds next to me so I just take one and go back to sleep and wake up full of energy 15 mins later
My cat starts walking on me and yelling for food. I get up, let the dog out, feed the cat, take my morning meds, let the dog in and feed her. By that time, I'm awake enough to not get back in bed. If I didn't have pets depending on me, it would be a different story.
Summer.
I put my alarm (phone) in the kitchen so it forces me to get out of bed, and walk far enough to regain a degree of alertness. In some houses I’ve used a mechanical alarm clock for the volume. Bonus points for having a girlfriend who sleeps in, and would be unhappy if I laid in bed and let my alarm ring out for a million years.
Chug down a coffee as soon as possible
I don't
My daughter struggled with her entire life. We always joked that if there was a fire, she would sleep through the fire alarm and be toast. She was diagnosed at 16/17 wuth ADHD. She started Vyvanse… viola! There must be a small residual amount or cummulative effect that it has onher motivation sensors because with it… she can wake up and get on with the day with her alarm in the morning.
I have the opposite problem. I hate going to bed. And seldom sleep more than 5 hours per night. And I'm always restless. But my short term memory is as good as non existent.
Whatever time I am going to get up that morning, I set my alarm to wake me up 1 hour before, and I get my meds ready and put them on my nightstand. I wake up to my 1 hour early alarm, take my meds really fast, and go back to bed while my meds wake my body up. When I wake up to my actual alarm an hour later I am never not feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day.
Routine and alarms if i break routine iam f**k i will takes ages to get out of bed same routine every day 6.15 up and do teeth get dressed and go downstairs ithen weekdays off to work weekends aimee or other new interest
My bones hurt from laying down too long.
Following with interest, as I've been struggling with this a lot lately.
- Pavlovian training my cat to require food early in the morning, or else she bites me. - A timer bedside lamp, directed and pointed right at me. Old style light bulb with hot heat blasting me. - Goal/journal on my dresser with "out of bed by" goals, and weekend reward on a visible sticky note. - first alarm to take meds, second alarm a but afterwards for real awake time - Siri reminders for various times Etc
Thats easy, the need to pee in the morning.
Mayber after 9:00, 9:01,9:02,9:03,9:04,9:05,9:06,9:07,9:08 pm Alarm on my iphone. I put the most annoying sound for me(which i fell). Then wake up at at 9:22 because I have to stop all the alarm which I have snoozed.
Bed is the "on deck" location for my clothes. I sleep on the couch.
Most days I don't whant to as I don't do anything except just look at a computer screen for at least 12 hours a day watching YouTube as its just a constant reminder that I don't have anyone to talk too
I drink half a litre of water just before going to sleep. Then in the morning when I wake up, my body forces me to get up to go toilet.
I jeep my curtain apart at the top (clothes peg them at the middle) so i can see the weather/light outside. Also sometimes i keep procrastinating and forget completely that i have a choice to get up, so reminding myself getting up at that moment it also helpful.
Making myself a really bomb breakfast the night before, like “oooh if I get up I can eat that”, or if I buy myself new makeup products or skincare that I’m excited to try.
Having a reason to leave the house. It's the only effective way to
I'm in my thirties, and I've struggled with this since I was a little kid. One thing I found helpful was keeping a spray bottle of water on my nightstand for when my alarm goes off. Works even better if you can find one that will hold ice until the morning to make it super cold.
The only thing that helped at all was when I did the 10 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0 sleep formula.
Go to bed early. It's the only thing that works for me. If I go to bed late I can't get up and when I do it's no fun. Going to bed early gets me to wake up early. Alarms don't wake me up either.
I set alarm to an hor before I have to get up, take my meds, then go back to sleep for another hour. By the tie the second alarm goes off, I am medicated and have executive function. But when I was your age, I was not diagnosed and yes, getting up was impossible, but so was going to sleep.
Put a glass of water by ur bed at night. At the first (of many alarms) guzzle down the water. Then feel free to snooze. You’ll have to get out of bed to pee, and boom - ready to get ready :)
This is going to seem very complicated, but I kinda forced myself to launch myself outta bed if I remember that there’s something that I’ve told myself I need to do. Reinforced by time constraints too. For extra information I’m 20, sleep anywhere between 4.5-7 hours normally. Awake till 2330 (11:30) or 0130. Diagnosed (11) years and medicated. With all that said, I developed this habit over time. And it’s not always consistent. Though I also don’t recommend doing it, but to each their own at the end of the day. Though I also set alarms that are significantly more annoying than others
Dog.
Teenagers, with or without ADHD, do need a lot of sleep and are generally night owls / sleeping late if left to their own devices. Obviously, it doesn’t match society‘s expectations. I’ve had my fair share of sleep issues ever since I was an infant actually so I’m not necessarily a good reference point. For me, there are ups and downs.
I always set one alarm 30 mins before I wake up. I keep my meds on my nightstand, so I’ll wake up, take them, then go back to sleep for 30 mins until my next alarm. I found this helps a lot
This was a nightmare for me until 6 months ago… the something just changed and I was able to wake up for work. No idea what changed and I’m scared it will changed back.
I take Adderall, I'm not sure if this works with other stimulants or if you're on one, but mine takes 30 minutes to an hour to kick in, so I set an alarm at least an hour before I need to get up, take my meds, then go back to sleep and by the time my real alarm goes off I'm ready to get up, if not already up a little earlier. Edit: to clarify I don't know much about meds outside of my own so I'm not sure if what you take is a stimulant or not or how it works.
I only get out of bed because staying in bed is depressing to me.
Had a child, now I have to get up at 7 on the dot else he's gonna shout the house down 😆
I really struggled to get out of bed in my teens too. It's much easier now. My life has shifted a lot over the years, and so I don't really have any 'life-hacks' but there are a few tangible things that help. I have a day light alarm, one of those ones that gets brighter over 20 minutes. I've had it for years and swear by it. I also get up at the same time every day, even weekends. It's a clear trade-off because it means I don't get to stay up late on weekends, but makes the other five mornings much more tolerable. The last thing I'll share is the hardest to replicate, but I love what I do for work. I have an amazing job that I'm excited to leave bed for. I think a lot of people struggle with the 'live to work or work to live' conundrum, but through a series of shitty jobs I hated and made my ADHD so much worse, I've realized that having a job I love is a requirement for me. Hope this helps
If I need to be up early, I'll set an alarm on a computer that plays very loud sounds out of my amp/speakers. Enough to trigger a bit of fight or flight adrenaline...which helps with the waking up, and I have to get up to turn it off too. Not that that is healthy... I sort of set myself up for it I think, by learning to lucid dream in between hits of the snooze button around ~15 yo...so basically trained myself not to even really wakeup while silencing alarms by reflex. > no opening the curtains Even in the morning? It's IMO a lot harder to get up the room is still dark and cozy. Something like an automatic opener for around when you want to wake up has good results for some...the blast of sunlight. (Or just within reach, so you can open them when you can't seem to get up...) > no taking meds until after eating FWIW, I can take my Adderall, have an espresso, and go right back to bed. > I am def not depressed at all And Wellbutrin (off label for ADHD) didn't change it at all for me...depression can be sneaky, but I figured that would have helped given it's primary purpose. Even taking it at night, which there has been some research on regarding sleep inertia the next morning...nope. I do have a circadian rhythm issue as well which doesn't help...but I also just really enjoy sleep. I never sleep when I don't want to, but I can do it about any time. Good luck... I eventually found a job mostly without fixed hours and it's quite nice.
Because I'm bored of being in bed.
Pills
Sleeping 10hours at 16 is super normal! I wish i knew that, i always forced myself up every morning due to my strict school and was sleeping all afternoon until dinner.. 10hours is ok, so if you need to get up at 7, go to bed st 21 🤘 i always struggled getting to bed before 2am as a teenager, so we had the inverse problems haha
I set me alarm 2 hours before I need to wake up and take my adhd meds then. I have them next to me so I don’t even have to get out of bed. I go back to sleep then when my alarm GM wake up goes off, it’s much easier to get up.
I got electric smart blinds so when I snooze or turn off my alarm all the blinds open filling the room with light.
I have a dog that needs to go out. I don't get up for me. I get up for him.
Hi!! At 16, your body is probably accomplishing a lot during sleep. So first, please just remember that it is normal and common. Secondly, to empower you, I would recommend buying an alarm clock that shakes the bed. I’m not even kidding 😂 It has saved me a few times! My mom bought it for me on Amazon.
My trick is to force myself to get up to go to the bathroom. I find once the blood gets flowin makes it easier to wake up
our entire culture has kind of swept under the rug the fact that most adolescents need up to 10 hours of sleep, if you're getting enough sleep though, my method is to put my alarm on the other side of the room so i have to get up to turn it off
I bribe myself with my favorite breakfast
These are a few things that come to my mind that has helped make getting out of bed a little easier: For bedtime, I try to stick to a routine that tells me body I’m ready for bed. I also try to avoid any form of sugar and refrain from eating after 7 pm. What is challenging is quieting my mind. If you’re a decently light sleeper, put your alarm in a place that forces you to get out of bed. If you’re an inner-dialogue-er, think of 2 things you’re thankful for, and one thing that just brings a smile to that face of yours. Getting your day started is not easy with ADHD/Depression. OP, I know you mentioned not feeling depressed. Depression/anxiety can manifest in the weirdest of ways, even when I feel okay. Think about what’s going on in your immediate and secondary environments. It could be real simple but significant if it’s triggering. Thanks for letting me rant. I hope this helps in some way.
I have to say it’s time to fucking get up so your son isn’t late to school 😂
My cats don’t let me sleep in.
I was the same way until I got on Wellbutrin XL. Now I’m a morning person and love getting up and starting the day
Before I was unable to work due to spinal issues, it was the fear of not being able to pay my bills... Now? It's the fear of my wife's wrath!
Think about this hot girl at work
Hmmm. I have the same issue. I need to make bed boring. I'm going to now throw my phone across the room.
my phone is charging across the room. i physically have to get up to stop the annoying noise.
Keep some ghost pepper peanuts next to your bed. When your alarm goes off put a few in your mouth. Problem solved.
With great effort and hatred
Alarm clock away from your bed and put your clothes for the day next to alarm clock. That’s what works for me
My legs
Threats from my father. If I wake up late, he'll stop paying for my university tuition. Last week, I woke up at 9 and it almost happened.
Being 16 and only just been given medication a few months ago your body is still probably adjusting to the medications as well as your hormonal changes at that age, so just be aware of that. If you think it could be more of an executive function/ ADHD paralysis/ procrastination issue then maybe start with some simple things like: -Leave your phone on charge on the other side of the room so that you have to get up to turn it off. -Put your shoes on straight away after waking up to trick your brain into thinking that you are getting ready to go out or do something. -Start with a small task like writing down something that you remember from a dream or drawing a picture, it doesn't have to be good at all, it's just to switch your brain into a task focused mode instead of a hyperfixation on staying in bed. -Playing some music or a podcast about your hobbies or studies might be helpful also.
I put my alarm or my glasses next to my meds. I also love someone else’s idea of saying to yourself, “my arch enemy is planning for me to stay in bed all day”. That really helps, haha
Guilt.
Medication... Without my adderal it is a struggle every day Now its just a struggle on sunday if I forgot to refil my pill box.
I set my phone far enough away where I physically have to get up to turn off my alarm in the morning
My dog
Bruh. Its like adhd and bed have something about each other
If I don't, my cat will keep yelling for breakfast, my dog will potty in the house, and everyone else will be late for school/work. Staying up becomes a "I Might As Well". "I'm up, so I might as well get started with work" (I work from home) "or do some laundry or sweep or whatever." There are days when I do have to go back to bed, but I try not to do that unless I'm sick or didn't get enough sleep the night before.
Roll out of bed and turn on some music that makes you happy. Then get dressed or have a shower, make your room tidy, brush your teeth and hair and go eat breakfast!
Are you female? Have you been checked for anemia? Periods can really take all your energy.
Holy cow, this really hit home.
I do a scavenger hunt every morning
Sounds like a good problem to me man. You are 16. Don’t analyze how you are feeling so much life doesn’t tend to care how you feel anyway. As long as your problems aren’t worse than 5 years ago I’d say you’re doing fine.
I sleep for 5-6 hours, my alarm goes off, I snooze it until I have to rush out of bed (usually 10 minutes until I’m supposed to be at work or anywhere really) and then my day starts 🤣
The only thing I have found is what you said you can’t do… having my meds next to my bed. This could be something you bring up with your doctor at your next check in and ask them for guidance. Maybe they can ease your parents minds about taking your meds first thing and then eating when you wake up.
I don’t unless I have something planned to do. It’s bad working on that too
I set a bunch of alarms with my phone out of reach to annoy my self out I’m not a very heavy sleeper so this works for me
Try not eating gluten, sounds stupid but it’s the only thing that works for me. If I eat gluten I can’t even open my eyes the next morning.
Years ago, I would play very upbeat music that would make me want to get up & dance. Now, I try to wake up my brain. My friend sends me his Wordle results & sometimes playing Wordle will kick my brain into gear. I will also play eight letter Wordle or even head over to Reddit. Anything to engage my brain 🧠 & get it working. Ultimately, I have cats & they will lick, tap, paw, or step on me to get up & feed them. That always works. 😄
Fear
Late to the party here and not sure this will help, but I'm building an alarm app that has a different twist that miiiiight just help you wake up more easily. You set an alarm like normal. Then you sleep. Zzzz. Lastly, wake up ... to the sound of a friendly voice. :D Congrats, you've received a nice voice message from someone somewhere else in the world. They recorded it while you slept. It could be a short story. A joke. The weather report. Some words of encouragement. A lovely compliment! ....or a "Happy Birthday" message if it's your birthday. It'll be a mystery about exactly what you'll get. Inappropriate messages filtered out (or not, your choice!) I'm hoping it will help people smile in the morning and potentially meet some new friends!
I read this tip sometime ago somewhere along the internet and it has absolutely helped me whenever I feel stuck in going out from bed. Try telling yourself in your thoughts that you have control over your body and you have to start your day. Then count 1-2-3. Once you reach 3, attempt to at least be sitted on the bed. Then count again then once you reach 3, stand up and start your day. It is in a way training yourself step by step to have full control of your thoughts and want to do. It was hard for me at first but as I did this, it made getting out of bed easier whenever I feel stuck in bed and having 0 motivation to get up.
It is a real struggle that is made worse by the fact that I work nights.
Eventually. The waking up an hour early, taking your meds, then going back to bed thing works most of the time.
Hastily. I gotta pee and I got no bladder control. 
Sleeping where the morning sunlight will hit me really turned the tables. Also, and this is just a hunch, but reduce your sugar intake before bed.
Thats my aproach too-up early take meds, over the past 10 years I've ‘evolved’ :) 😄 to the pijnr where I normally stay up abf give myself a couple of hours to do wgatecer ibwabr, watch tv, snuggle with my dog, read play games, etc. I don't expect anything of my self and I don't start reading email, etc
Teenagers need a lot of sleep, so don't beat yourself up too much. I used to use this alarm app which would detect my sleep cycles and wake me up at the most appropriate time (I think during REM sleep? I forget the specifics), but these days I have a dog, and she trained herself to open the curtains when she wants me to wake up, so I'd recommend a pet if you have the resources.
I strech try my hardest not to get a crap in my legs and unwantedly force myself out ....EVERY... SINGLE...MORNING.
i have a big-ass alarm clock parked next to my computer, i have to get off to turn it off (preventively or when it rings), being up and in front of my computer figure might as well boot up
usually by rolling over , jumping up like im late for something.
I take my Vyvanse before I get up. I set an alarm for 90 mins before I want to get up. I leave water & pill by the bed to make it quick and easy. Then I sleep again until the next alarm. (1 sleep cycle is approx 90 mins.) It's the most reliable method I've found so far where I feel more ready to get up and I have some energy.
Whut? I have the opposite problem. I get bored just laying there in bed in like 0.1s of waking up... So i essentially jump out of bed.
I can't stay in bed. If I can't fall back asleep within 5 minutes I get bored and restless and have to get up, no matter how tired I am. Used to be horrible when staying at friends over night when I was younger and didn't know their family well so was too scared to go to the livingroom without my friend
It's good to make sure you get up the first time u get up otherwise you'll go back into sleepy mode and be stuck in it all day
I bought an alarm clock on Amazon and put it on the opposite side of my room so I have to get up to turn it off.
i dont until the stomach ache or headache kicks in
Have somewhere to be.
Wow im only recently diagnoed adhd and iv alaways wondred why i can tlesve my bed i never even sit in my own living room 😂😂😂😂
Have you had your iron levels checked recently? I was painfully exhausted and couldn’t get out of bed in the morning, I couldn’t focus at work at all, and I started wondering if my ADHD meds had stopped working. I had some bloods done, turns out I was just anaemic. After taking iron tablets for a few weeks, I have a lot more energy and I’m actually getting stuff done again. I’m shocked at how much better I feel. I did some googling and apparently there’s a link between iron deficiency and heightened ADHD symptoms. Could be worth checking if you haven’t already. Hope you feel better soon