weeks.org - 06. (Morning Wake up Wars): #2: The Ritalin Freight Train Wake Up Routine

Posts in this section:

Paying Attention to Attention - Part 1

02. One of the hard parts

03. The list, for now

04. (Morning Wake Up Wars): #1: The automatic timer scare yourself awake alarm method

05. More than 2 items needs a list

06. (Morning Wake up Wars): #2: The Ritalin Freight Train Wake Up Routine

07. (Morning Wake up Wars): #3: I used to set my clock radio to the wrong time

08. Other Clocks, Other Times

09. They say Energy Follows Attention

10. The clock tricks went on for years

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
-- Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

06. (Morning Wake up Wars): #2: The Ritalin Freight Train Wake Up Routine

(Paying Attention to Attention - Part 6 - August 4, 2011)

This is a questionably wise but reliable way to get yourself out of bed on time.

It can be scary and uncomfortable, and is like being just plain rude to yourself, even though it works really well.

What you do is this:

Set the alarm for 90 minutes earlier than needed (note, it helps to have a clock radio with 2 alarms, but you can make it work with one if you do it right. You may recall I used to wrap tape around the volume and channel knobs so I couldn't turn them in my stupor of first round alarm bashing).
Place the desired dose of Ritalin on or by the alarm clock.
Make sure it's in a place your groping, unconscious hand will encounter it without knocking it off.
If possible (and usually necessary), set another alarm, 10-15 minutes earlier than the first, so that it can prime the system a little and start the waking process... that way, when the Ritalin Dose alarm goes off you'll have a chance of knowing what planet you're on and realize you're supposed to swallow the pills and not merely scoot them out of the way so you can press the #@!^ snooze bar...
Go back to sleep, happy to dream without anxiety, with the comfortable knowledge that the alarm won't be needed again, because, within 30 to 45 minutes, the drug will kick in and you'll start to pull out of your dreams and into the day.
Sometimes, you'll come roaring out of them, depending on the dose and how many hours of actual sleep you got. That's the freight train wake up experience. It's like going from deep sleep to totally aware, like a light switch, like a freakin toaster...

But it works, and beats dreaming you're up and showering and going to work and talking with other humans, over and over again until you really are late for work (or lunch). And it beats moving like a zombie through a perpetually gray morning, no matter what the weather, waiting for coffee, food, shower or the sheer effort of standing and moving to remind you that another day really has got itself underway, whether you plan to play along or not.

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