Anyone got any absolute sure-fire ways to wake up after minimal sleep?

hatrickpatrick · 01-09-2012 04:44PM #1

Sceal is as follows: I'm heading to Electric Picnic tomorrow, by bus from Dublin. Last bus leaves Custom House Quay at 1PM, realistically I'll have to be out of my house in Sandycove by 11:15 to get the dart into town and allow for all possible disaster scenarios (dart is delayed, last bus is full or leaves early so I have to get an earlier one, alarm goes off and I have to go back to sort it, etc).

I'm also invited to a friend's birthday tonight in town which is intended to be an all night nightclub type session.

Now my immediate instinct is just not to go tonight at all. I have an unfortunate history of waking up by alarm, then waking up again an hour or two later without realizing I was falling back to sleep, and I've missed things in the past because of this.

However, it seems daft that other people I know are able to survive occasional nights like this with only 4-5 hours of sleep and still not only get up in time for their appointment the next morning, but actually be in good form and enjoy the day.

So how do people do this when they have no alternative? How to avoid either sleeping through the alarm or simply falling back to sleep?
Right now my setup is as follows:

"Sleep cycle" alarm app on iphone (detects what sleep phase you're in and wakes you up during a half hour window before your wake-up deadline when you're least likely to be in deep sleep and therefore wake up groggy and disorientated)

After this, periodic iphone alarms set 3 minutes apart, I have about 15 of them set

Clock radio next to me is not tuned to any particular station at the moment so when it goes off I'm going to get hit by an extremely obnoxious blast of white noise

I've also been thinking of getting a friend to call me in the morning to make sure I'm awake, but don't want to inconvenience anyone like that unless it's absolutely necessary.

So, with all this in mind, what the hell is wrong with me? How do others manage to survive on so little sleep and physically force themselves to wake up? It's not like I willfully wake up and say "ah f*ck it I'm staying in bed", I very genuinely intend to get up when the alarm goes off but tend to fall back to sleep so quickly that I don't notice it until I wake up again later

Anyone have advice / experience?

ceegee · 01-09-2012 04:46PM

PM me your address, Ill call round and kick you in the nuts in the morning. That should wake you up

hairyprincess · 01-09-2012 04:51PM

Bucket of ice cold water over the head and a kick in the goolies.

At least that's how I wake himself up

df1985 · 01-09-2012 04:54PM

set your phone a random intervals over he course of half an hour, if you press snooze itll go again on top of other all the other times....about ten alarms later youre so bloody sick of the thing you get up.

shedweller · 01-09-2012 04:55PM

Set 3 or 4 alarms on your phone for every few minutes after the first one. Also place your phone where you have to get out of bed to stop it. Lorry the coffee into you afterwards and just keep one foot in front of the other, soldier!!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 01-09-2012 04:57PM

put your alarm far enough away that you'll hvae to get out of bed and walk to it to switch it off

then just head straight to the bathroom and have a cold shower.
insta-wake

hardCopy · 01-09-2012 04:58PM

Drink several pints of water going to bed, you won't sleep through your alarms with a full bladder

Also there is a shuttle bus running from Portlaoise train station, not sure of the times but it might be an option if you miss that 1 pm bus.

Dave0301 · 01-09-2012 05:01PM

hardCopy wrote: »

Drink several pints of water going to bed, you won't sleep through your alarms with a full bladder

Also there is a shuttle bus running from Portlaoise train station, not sure of the times but it might be an option if you miss that 1 pm bus.

Or he'll just piss himself :pac:

hatrickpatrick · 01-09-2012 05:03PM

Dave0301 wrote: »

Or he'll just piss himself :pac:

If it gets me to EP in time for the Killers, so be it

starbelgrade · 01-09-2012 05:03PM

Bring a bag of yokes with you & you won't have to worry about staying awake for the whole weekend.

le la rat · 01-09-2012 05:04PM

What you talking bout willis?

Adhamh · 01-09-2012 05:05PM

Peel some raw garlic and keep the cloves in a glass next to your alarm. When it goes off in the morning, eat the raw garlic straight away. There's no way anybody can fall asleep again after that. Works like a charm.

NegativeCreep · 01-09-2012 05:07PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

Bring a bag of yokes with you & you won't have to worry about staying awake for the whole weekend.

This.
Or get someone to drag you out of the bed in the morning?

DavyD_83 · 01-09-2012 05:08PM

Sleeping is cheating!
Man-up!!

ITS_A_BADGER · 01-09-2012 05:12PM

or dont go to bed at all and just drink like feck

Daftendirekt · 01-09-2012 05:13PM

You could try sleeping on the couch, or even on the floor.

I find that when I wake up, if I'm not in my nice familiar bed, I'm a lot less likely to drift off again. It's kind of an automatic reminder of the fact that you need to get up.

Grimebox · 01-09-2012 05:23PM

I have to bargained with first thing in the morning to get me out of my warm cocoon. I love a nice hot long shower so I convince myself that it will be just as cosy in the shower and this tricks my idiotic brain long enough to get me up and into the shower. I have to give myself around 30 mins to slowly wake up once in there. I have missed tons of things and I'm constantly late throughout my life. I do wake up for them but I choose not to get up due to lack of sleep or comfort. This strategy is working for me at the moment. I'm a ****ing idiot first thing in the morning

Chuck Stone · 01-09-2012 05:42PM

Have you ever been handed a cup of tea/coffee first thing in the morning in bed when you're still half asleep? It quite incredible how it shocks you out of sleep.

If you can't collar someone into waking you with a cup of tea/coffee invest in a 'teasmade'.

Nice one.
Top one.
Get sorted.

Pa Dee · 01-09-2012 05:44PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Sceal is as follows: I'm heading to Electric Picnic tomorrow, by bus from Dublin. Last bus leaves Custom House Quay at 1PM, realistically I'll have to be out of my house in Sandycove by 11:15 to get the dart into town and allow for all possible disaster scenarios (dart is delayed, last bus is full or leaves early so I have to get an earlier one, alarm goes off and I have to go back to sort it, etc).

I'm also invited to a friend's birthday tonight in town which is intended to be an all night nightclub type session.

Now my immediate instinct is just not to go tonight at all. I have an unfortunate history of waking up by alarm, then waking up again an hour or two later without realizing I was falling back to sleep, and I've missed things in the past because of this.

However, it seems daft that other people I know are able to survive occasional nights like this with only 4-5 hours of sleep and still not only get up in time for their appointment the next morning, but actually be in good form and enjoy the day.

So how do people do this when they have no alternative? How to avoid either sleeping through the alarm or simply falling back to sleep?
Right now my setup is as follows:

"Sleep cycle" alarm app on iphone (detects what sleep phase you're in and wakes you up during a half hour window before your wake-up deadline when you're least likely to be in deep sleep and therefore wake up groggy and disorientated)

After this, periodic iphone alarms set 3 minutes apart, I have about 15 of them set

Clock radio next to me is not tuned to any particular station at the moment so when it goes off I'm going to get hit by an extremely obnoxious blast of white noise

I've also been thinking of getting a friend to call me in the morning to make sure I'm awake, but don't want to inconvenience anyone like that unless it's absolutely necessary.

So, with all this in mind, what the hell is wrong with me? How do others manage to survive on so little sleep and physically force themselves to wake up? It's not like I willfully wake up and say "ah f*ck it I'm staying in bed", I very genuinely intend to get up when the alarm goes off but tend to fall back to sleep so quickly that I don't notice it until I wake up again later

Anyone have advice / experience?

When the alarm goes for the first time lather your cock and balls in deep heat before you hit snooze!

mattjack · 01-09-2012 05:48PM

Get a light bulb, put a small hole in it ,fill with petrol and seal with insulating tape.

Fit the light bulb into a table light controlled by by a timer set at the hour you wish to wake up.

The resulting explosion and fireball should wake you up.

areyawell · 01-09-2012 05:51PM

Leave your iphone as far as away from the bed as possible i.e you will actually have to get out of bed to turn it off. Also a clock radio as far as way from bed as possible. Problem solved. I had to do this when I was starting 6AM starts. OP you really sound a like a lickle baby

nkay1985 · 01-09-2012 05:59PM

Yeah I think you're just going to have to go with the tried and tested leave the phone on the other side of the room trick. Also, plug your clock radio in in another room with the volume set at full blast and the alarm set for ten minutes after your phone. Therefore, if you go back to bed after turning off your phone alarm, you'll have to get up again and go to another room. If you go back to bed after that, you're just making a conscious decision really.

sock puppet · 01-09-2012 06:02PM

Also surely 4 or 5 hours sleep is enough to get by?

nkay1985 · 01-09-2012 06:07PM

sock puppet wrote: »

Also surely 4 or 5 hours sleep is enough to get by?

Yeah exactly! If I was to say "little sleep", I'd be talking about 1/2 hours. 4/5 hours is a good night's sleep before a full day of work for me.

elefant · 01-09-2012 06:18PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

If you can't collar someone into waking you with a cup of tea/coffee invest in a 'teasmade'.
.

best
invention
ever

Rigol · 01-09-2012 06:29PM

If you get to sleep about 2:30 tonight you should be fine. Maybe don't go too mad on the beer tonight. Arrive late leave early. Or you could maybe even be designated driver - in which case they'll owe you one.

Either way, stop eating/drinking early and let your guts go asleep early rather than digesting a batter burger and chips/sugar/alcohol throughout the night.

I put my care package beside my bed every morning. All the things I need for a nice brekky in bed. Wake up ..... juice and cereal awaits.

Considering bed-pan.

mattjack · 01-09-2012 06:33PM

Rigol wrote: »

If you get to sleep about 2:30 tonight you should be fine. Maybe don't go too mad on the beer tonight. Arrive late leave early. Or you could maybe even be designated driver - in which case they'll owe you one.

I put my care package beside my bed every morning. All the things I need for a nice brekky in bed. Wake up ..... nice juice and cereal awaits.

Considering bed-pan.

Designated driver ? care package ? and considering a bed pan ? wtf

OP get yourself arrested , Garda will release you bout 6am .

Rigol · 01-09-2012 06:36PM

You know you want to try it matt.

srfc19 · 01-09-2012 06:49PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

"Sleep cycle" alarm app on iphone (detects what sleep phase you're in and wakes you up during a half hour window before your wake-up deadline when you're least likely to be in deep sleep and therefore wake up groggy and disorientated)

After this, periodic iphone alarms set 3 minutes apart, I have about 15 of them set

Do you have an iphone??

Maybe you should mention it more often so we can all be sure!! :pac:

IceFjoem · 01-09-2012 07:06PM

Rigol wrote: »

If you get to sleep about 2:30 tonight you should be fine. Maybe don't go too mad on the beer tonight. Arrive late leave early. Or you could maybe even be designated driver - in which case they'll owe you one.

Either way, stop eating/drinking early and let your guts go asleep early rather than digesting a batter burger and chips/sugar/alcohol throughout the night.

I put my care package beside my bed every morning. All the things I need for a nice brekky in bed. Wake up ..... juice and cereal awaits.

Considering bed-pan.

Genius!

ermahgerd · 01-09-2012 07:13PM

Invite Larry Murphy over for a sleepover with your mother in the house.

Anyone got any absolute sure-fire ways to wake up after minimal sleep?

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