By Buro Winners
So, here we are. In a totally new situation, with a lot of new challenges. How to study at home? How to become productive with temptations like Netflix, Facebook or your bed so close? How to stay in contact with your friends, study mates and relatives? In the upcoming posts we try to help you with these questions and support you to make the best of it. This time on how to get out of bed in the morning when you don’t feel like it.
The good-guy-voice
Maybe you recognize that you sometimes you have this voice in your head. With a sensible tone it says to you in the morning: ‘you should get out of bed now, shouldn’t you?’ This good-guy-voice reminds you of some things that need to be done, how important those things are and it might even tell you what to think about yourself if you stay in bed. This sensible voice helps you out of bed, but sometimes it’s just not strong enough.
Trick yourself
During the training sessions we have given about time management over the past 15 years we have heard so many tricks students practice to overcome the habit of staying in bed too long. Here we share five of the best tips to help support your angel voice and get out of bed, like you should.
1. The smart way
Put your alarm device in the other corner of the room, so you will have to get out.
2. The heavy way
Downloading this track to set as your alarm.
3. The think-ahead way
Write yourself a postcard and put it on the bathroom floor somewhere on your way to the toilet. Before you go to bed, drink water so you will have to get out of bed in the morning. On your way to the toilet you will find the postcard. The card could tell you: well done, buddy! You woke up on time, now let’s start straight away and have the best day ever!
4. The reflective way
Do what Buddhist monks do: wake up and imagine a little bird that in the open window. It whispers about a nice place, as if it is telling you a secret. You can sleep all day there or even longer, just as long as you like. Then it says mysteriously: ‘this place is a place where you can sleep forever’. The bird looks at you and you become suspicious. Then suddenly, you realise the bird is talking about coming to the other side … to the hereafter!
From this moment the monks use this imaginary conversation with the bird to explain the bird why it is so important to live a little longer. The idea is to sum up all the things that you are looking forward to. The bird just listens and lets you convince yourself that this day was on purpose. You will get out of bed easily now, because you have just told yourself that you would love to live another day.
5. The fascinating way
Somewhat crazy we must admit, but this is our favourite tip. It came from of a participant that shared with us a very personal, fascinating and fantastic story that put a smile on the face of every participant of that training. She explained:
Before I go to sleep I pretend I draw a happy face on the instep of my left foot and an angry face on the instep of my right foot. When I wake up I stick my left foot out of my bed and I start a little play. With an enthusiastic voice I simulate my left foots voice: “Oh, is it that late already, we should get out of bed because today is going to be really exciting!” Then I play that my other foot wakes up, sticks itself outside of my bed and I simulate it’s grumpy voice: “Hey, can you two (that’s me then, and the happy foot) be quiet, I’m trying to sleep over here.” I always start to laugh. It doesn’t take very long before I am totally awake, laughing because of the craziness of the situation and the utterly strangeness of my character that I love so much. It leaves me nothing than to get up.
Good luck finding what works for you!