The Six Stages of Waking Up in the Morning

Hey there!

It should come to no surprise that I was inspired to write this by a terrible Monday morning. As far as I’m concerned, Mondays shouldn’t exist. We should spend the twenty-four hours between Sunday and Tuesday curled up in a ball, in complete and utter denial of the fact that the weekend is over.

That being said, waking up on a weekday can pose as quite a challenge. Whether you’re headed to school or to work, there’s nothing worse than climbing out of bed, knowing all of the things you’ll have to do that day.

I’ve compiled a step-by-step process of how early mornings tend to go for me. Hopefully you’ll be able to relate to some of these habits (I sure hope I’m not the only one…)

Disorientation

After a night of rest, the first few moments of consciousness are very confusing. You’re attacked by the siren-like blasts of your alarm, which seem to grow louder and louder as time passes. Sunlight glares through your window, the brightness causing your head to pound. For an instant, you can’t remember what exactly is going on, or why you’re awake.

This feeling, however, quickly passes. You are then forced to remember why you’re up and what you’ve got to do.

2. Stress

Once you’re of sound mind, you’re forced to come to terms with the tasks ahead of you. The day seems virtually unconquerable. You try to convince yourself that everything is fine, but it doesn’t work.

3. Denial

Now fully-aware of the day’s expectations, you lie in bed and refuse to get up. You’re exhausted. There’s no way you can possibly fulfill all of your responsibilities. You’re better off staying home and wallowing in your misery.

4. Relapse

After a few minutes, you fall back asleep. This typically isn’t a deep slumber though; it only lasts for five to ten minutes. Unfortunately, the five to ten minute window that you wasted sleeping was more important that you realized. When you reawaken and take a peek at your clock, you’re flooded with horror.

5. Acceptance

At this point, you’ve accepted the fact that you can’t sleep all day. You groggily climb out of bed and go through your morning routine in a sleep-like haze. Everything seems difficult. Even the smallest actions take maximum effort. Until you get some food or caffeine in your system, you’re basically a deadweight.

6. Manipulation

As you head out the door, you haven’t quite shook off your weariness. The only way you’ll make it through is by lying to yourself:

“I’ll take a nap as soon as I get home.”

“I’ll make sure to get a full eight hours tonight.”

You say these things with certainty in your voice, but deep down you know they aren’t true. You’ll wake up the next morning with the same level of exhaustion. It’s a vicious, endless cycle.