“I bought an old-school alarm clock (one of the very loud ones with bells on top), and I’ll set it at night and place it all the way on the other side of the room. Being forced to wake up and walk across my bedroom to turn it off is one of the only things that stops me from hitting snoozing repeatedly and lying in bed staring at the ceiling.” —Blair H.
3. Keep your necessary supplies far, far away.
“I keep my SNRI downstairs so that I actually get up to take it. Once I’m up, it’s like, ‘Well, I’ll use the bathroom and make coffee. Then it’s, ‘I guess I’d better eat or my meds will hurt my stomach.’ Oh, and I don’t pick up my phone first thing, or I won’t get up.” —Evelynn F.
4. Reward yourself for throwing off your covers.
“Rewarding myself with a nice drink—like an herbal tea or comforting mug of coffee—gives me the motivation to get up, and makes the morning feel less bleak when I’m having a hard time. I have something to look forward to that feels like a luxury.” —Von G., 28
“I keep my vibrator on the other side of the room. Using it is my reward for getting out of bed.” —Madison B., 28
“I’ll seek out warmth in another cozy, womb-like space: the shower. This will then sort of force me to move on to making hard-boiled eggs and coffee, which I also enjoy. Really, it’s just the opportunity to experience pleasant sensations that gets me up.” —Hannah Meyer, 27
“I try to have little treats waiting for my morning self. I’ll buy a new brand of fluffy waffles, a new candle for my morning shower, or even prep an area to try a new stretching routine.” —Lille A., 27
5. Chug water for a makeshift alarm.
“It’s not groundbreaking, but when I wake up in the middle of the night, I drink water so I need to pee first thing in the morning. And like, badly enough that it cannot be ignored upon waking. Once I’m up from that, I can usually parlay that into other morning functions.” —Anna H.
6. Do a morning meditation from bed.
“There’s this meditation from Buddhify that helps on tough days. You go back to a memory of something you did that makes you proud (like, for me, getting an A in a class I thought I’d bombed, or helping a girl out of a river when she’d gotten pulled under the current), try to feel it in detail, and then remember that person is still in you. It helps me be kinder to myself and realize that maybe today my greatest achievement is toasting frozen waffles, lost in the pointlessness of it all, but on other days, it feels really good to be alive, and it’s worth it to stick around for another chance at a good moment or two.” —W.B., 40
7. Do a little legwork the night before.
“Having an outfit or article of clothing I’m excited to wear is the thing that works most consistently for me. I thrift a lot and I also have a Nuuly subscription, which isn’t cheap but helps a lot to maintain novelty in my wardrobe and keep me excited about my clothes. I try to lay out an outfit the night before or at least put one piece of clothing in my line of sight from bed. It also helps reduce the decision-paralysis that makes it harder to get up.” —Isabel R., 28