I'm one of those people who has a hard time getting up, and often hit the snooze - or don't hear the clock at all. There is one thing that wakes me up, though - the sound of my dog whining, telling me that unless I get up NOW and head for the door, I'll have a puddle to clean up. (My 15-year-old dog takes multiple medications, one of which is a diuretic.) So, if we could program our clocks with whatever sounds we like, I'd get one that plays "whimpering dog" to wake me up.

Or I could try getting more than 4 hours of sleep per night... but sometimes that just doesn't happen.

Ever since I made the mistake of feeding the junior tigers in the ay-em, I can expect paws and claws on my eyelids if I leave them closed too long. Sleeping in my glasses doesn't help - they've learn how to pull them off.

So, either I sleep in goggles, or I get up to feed the damn cats.

Haven't set my alarm in almost 7 years now.

Easiest fix for the snooze addict:

Drink 2 - 3 tall glasses of water right before bed. By 6 or 7 am you'll get up to pee, regardless of your alarm. Splash some water on your face and you're good to go.

jade:

Easiest fix for the snooze addict:

Drink 2 - 3 tall glasses of water right before bed. By 6 or 7 am you'll get up to pee, regardless of your alarm. Splash some water on your face and you're good to go.

Takes more than 4 hours for the water to go through you, most of the time; for me, in many cases, that means drinking the water several hours before bed. Although, I've long suspected that when caffeine itself fails, coffee continues to work somewhat for the same reason.

I'd try beer... that should do it!

Try setting your alarm to turn the radio on instead of beeping. Crank the volume all the way up, set it to a station you hate, and put it across the room on the dresser or something so that you have to get up to shut it off. Works for me.

Or, like, go to bed at a reasonable time. But that's crazy talk.

Radio stations, even bad ones, just get incorporated into my dreams. I have an alarm one of my kids had, which I use if it's urgent to get up. There's a "Boing, boing" like a pogo stick, a cuckoo clock noise, the ditty from the TV network which spawned it, and I think one or two other horrendous noises. It's hard to get immune to, because you can keep switching the noise.

Only problem is, hubby has threatened to smash it with a hammer.

can you function on that? I used to able to go to "beer thirty", go for drinks after hours, knock some boots, pass out for 2 hours, wake up, walk to work, pick up a quad on my way, then work for 12 hours.

I swear by 8 hours now. Yeah, I'm not as fun, but I'm definitely healthier.

arewethereyet?:

I'd try beer... that should do it!

I realize you're being facetious, but I will say it anyway: this will make you sleep in.

When you drink before bed, the depressant effects of the alcohol relax you, and you might have an easier time actually falling asleep. But while your body is in a physiologically depressed state, it has to work harder to keep the basic systems running: heart, digestion, etc.

Once the alcohol begins to wear off, your body is still working hard to overcome the depressive effects resulting in restless sleep patterns, increased heart rate and blood pressure, excessive sweating and the urge to pee, pee, and pee.

Which means you'll get a worse sleep, likely wake up a few times, maybe go to the bathroom, and become dehydrated. The result? You sleep right through the alarm.

I know because I've been there. Thankfully, I'm a student, and waking up tired and hungover is indistinguishable from waking up at all.

Musmatte:

Try setting your alarm to turn the radio on instead of beeping. Crank the volume all the way up, set it to a station you hate, and put it across the room on the dresser or something so that you have to get up to shut it off. Works for me.

Or, like, go to bed at a reasonable time. But that's crazy talk.

Yep, that's crazy... at least for most of the next two years. I quit work, went back to school full-time for an advanced degree... late-night study sessions with classmates, writing up research results late into the night, PLUS taking care of the dogs and trying to fix up the house, takes a lot of hours.

On the plus side, when I'm done, I may take a few months off before I start working again, if I can work out the finances. Or at least a few weeks, I'm sure I can do that. That will be my incentive to myself when I'm trying to finish up that thesis.

Perhaps what the boyfriend needs is a different kind of alarm clock, one of those that wakes you up gradually and more naturally than a sudden blaring alarm. There are several on the market (pricier, yes): one that gradually increase the light in the room a la sunrise while gradually increasing volume of nature-type of sounds, over, say 20 minutes or something, not sure, so that when the 'alarm' hits at the set time, a person has woken up gradually instead of suddenly from a deep sleep. Haven't tried it, heard great things.

Then there's always the alarm clock on the other side of the room trick...