Why am I posting this here instead of the main post? 'Cause it's mostly related to your sleep comments.

I used to have the WORST time waking up. All throughout higschool and up until about 7 years ago, I would hit the snooze button repeatedly and do nothing but complain about getting up, even though I knew I was already late.

Thinking back on this now, I realize it was due to my allergies. My being on a strong antihistamine and/or decongestants not only kept me drowsy long after I woke up, but it messed with my REM sleep and kept my heart rate fast so I wasn't getting restful sleep.

A few questions (that you don't have to answer). Are you getting enough sleep? 7-9 hours is good. I need around 8. I will wake up on my own after exactly 8 and a half hours, but at the 8-hr mark I'm pretty good. I can squeak by on the occasional nights of 7 1/2 hours but I try not to make it a habit.

Find your magic number and stick with it. You'll have to push bedtime back to whatever will give you that number. Do it even if you have to DVR shows and watch them other times. A good hint that you aren't getting enough sleep during the week is if you sleep in an extra 2 or more hours on the weekends.

Are you on medications that either make you drowsy or effect your sleep patterns? Talk to your doctor and see if you can eliminate any or cut the dose in half.

I was taking a 24 hr antihistamine ( for YEARS) and was tired all the time. I ran out of my prescription and so I took the children's dose that I had on backup in the medicine cabinet in case my boy got a bad cold. I took it for a week. It really helped with the sneezing, but it didn't knock me out the whole day. I have done this since about christmas and it has changed my life.

Looking at this timeline, I was impossible to wake up when I was taking a antihistamine/decongestant combo. Since I stopped taking the decongestant seven years ago, I was just groggy all day. I stopped taking meds while I was pregnant and nursing my son. After that he was my alarm clock and I had to drag my ass out of bed no matter what. I started taking antihistamines again after I stopped breastfeeding. I wish I had figured this out earlier.

After about 2 weeks of getting consistent sufficient sleep, you will find it easier to both go to bed earlier and get up earlier. It takes time to adjust to. That way if you stay up late on occasion, you won't be a total sleepyhead, just a little tired during the day.

Edit- so what I'm trying to say is, Even if you are getting what seems like enough sleep, it might not be- due to medicine or some other condition (allergies, asthma, apnea, etc). If you fix what's causing your sleep iussues you will adjust. Man that's a lot shorter than my knee-deep crap above. I've been in meetings all day, I deserve slack.