Coffee? Espresso? Au naturel?
I’ve got an early class next semester, so I thought a cup of coffee in the morning would be an easy way to wake up. How do you get up and why? Any side effects?
At first, I hear a light buzzing noise that alerts me that my cell phone’s alarm function is about to shatter the early morning silence. To the chagrin of my cat, I then leap from bed in an attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on the mobile phone (which, after all, is only following orders). Provided I can resist the temptation to reset the alarm for another 15 minutes of sleep, and avoid "just putting my head down for a minute, I then press the power up button on my computer and stumble half-blind in the general direction of the bathroom for the “3 S’s”. I then stumble, slightly less blind, towards the living room, turn on the morning news, and stare blankly at it while absentmindedly scooping Corn Flakes into my mouth.
[Lester Burnham]
This is the high point of my day. Its all downhill from here.
[/LB]
I had to ditch the caffeine a few years ago…too much heartburn, so it’s mostly will-power now. I don’t like alarm clocks, so I tend to wake up naturally. This is possible for two major reasons. I don’t have to be at work until 8:30ish and we have flex-time, so if I sleep a little late, that’s OK. But most important is the fact that my bedroom windows face to the east, giving good sunlight in the morning. I usually wake up naturally by 7am at the latest, so it works pretty well.
Jammer
I wake up without the alarm going off. I don’t have to leave until 10 or 11, depending on the day, so I can sleep until I’m finished. Then I get up and have a big cup of tea and see what’s new on the Dope since last night. After I’m awake, then I have the shower and shave bit, and while drying, I make another cup of tea in my travel mug to drink on the bus ride in, and ride my bike up to the bus loop.
Sheer force of habit. I usually awaken a bit before the alarm goes off (5:40am), pat the wife (who gets to sleep in most days), and go perform my morning abolutions. A hot shower gets me awake and functioning.
I stopped using caffeine in college, when I abused it terribly. Now, a cup of coffee in the morning will just make me pee all day. 
Well, my littlest one’s usually up by about 6ish, and waking me up, ready to start her day. I turn the TV on for her so I can shower in peace, go grab a shower, get myself dressed, then down to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker (which I set up the night before). While the coffee’s brewing, I wash any dishes that got dirty after the dinner dishes were washed. I get her dressed for Pre-K while I’m drinking my first cup of coffee, check my email while I’m drinking my second cup, take my third cup to the bus stop with me while she and I wait for her bus, and pour a fourth cup to drink with breakfast when I get home from the bus stop. By that time, I’m usually pretty much awake. 
My alarm goes off at around 6:30 (tho’ I haven’t reset it since the time change and it still reads 7:30) and I hit the snooze button. Repeatedly. Until I finally notice that it says 9:00 am and I panic. I down a green tea capsule which provides a little “oomph” and hop in the shower. In the shower I remember I forgot to reset the clock and I’m not actually that late so I then goof around with the cats whilst trying to decide what to wear and finally roll into work at 9:30 am. It’s not a particularly efficient way to wake-up but the green tea does help and is good for you as well…
What’s up with all the “I need coffee to wake up”?
I never got to like the taste of coffee. Depending on my schedule, my morning can look like any of the posts above.
Just minus the coffee.
Here is my ritual:
Alarm goes off, I am outta bed. This stage is really important; if I don’t get up IMMEDIATELY after the alarm wakes me up, I might conk out again. This happens frequently if I had a late night; since I didn’t hit the snooze alarm, I might oversleep by a considerable amount, and be forced to rush. Once I am up, I peel off my clothes and take a shower. The shower helps wake me up a bit. I’m usually not hungry that early in the morning, but since some days I can be very busy, I usually eat some toast or something small.
I DO drink coffee, but I am careful about it. I get a cup at 7-11 on the way to work, this is a pleasant ritual and lately I have been running into the local garbageman, who happens to be the father of one of my piano students (small world!) we’ll chat a bit while fixing coffee, hop in our respective vehicles, then get on our way. I’ll usually have about 5 minutes before I have to start my crossing guard shift, so I’ll study for school or something while sipping my coffee. The coffee is too hot to guzzle down in 5 minutes, plus if I drank that much coffee I would be TOO wired during my hour of standing on the corner crossing kids. I drink just enough to keep me alert. By the time my shift is done, this little intial nitro boost is wearing off, so I’ll sip coffee on the drive to school. Through my morning class, I’ll be sipping the rest of the coffee. I learned that if I drink coffee slowly, it will keep me alert and awake longer, and wear off more gradually. If I drink a lot really quickly, I’ll be super-wired, but only for 30 minutes, and by the time I get to doing anything important, the buzz wears off and I start feeling groggy again.
I usually wake up naturally sometime around 7am. If I am still tired I shine lights in/near my face for 10-15 minutes and that does alot to wake me up.
Usually, I’m so used to getting up at a certain time that I’ll wake up about then whether my alarm is set or not, though lately I’ve fallen into a habit of wanting to sleep in (which, oddly enough, I never developed in high school). Usually, once I’m awake I’m awake, unless it’s obscenely early in the morning, though I will sometimes stay in bed for a while.
As for morning pick-me-ups…none here. Don’t like hot drinks, so no tea or coffee for me. I also tend to stay away from pop, or any sort of junk food for that matter, before noon, a habit I got from my parents always telling me not to eat junk so early in the day. I’ve broken out of that habit somewhat, but generally I don’t get caffeine or sugar early in the morning unless we have toaster pastries in the house.
(I was just going to answer “I get out of bed” but CynicalGabe’s post was so much better I figured it wasn’t worth it)
The alarm goes off at 5:26 am. That gives me 4 minutes to wake up enough to sit up and turn on the light. During this time DeHusband turns on the TV. I sit staring blindly at Headline News for 15 minutes as I slowly gain consciousness. Then shower - makeup - hair - dress, etc. I don’t have my tea until I’m in my office at 7:30. It’s one of the few things that I’ll actually go to work for.
My alarm goes off (with music), usually between 5:30 and 6:00 am, although this morning was 5:00 and occasionally as early as 4 am. Sometimes I snooze, if I’m having a particularly good dream, mostly not. This morning I took the luxury of another ten minutes of shut eye. I usually, but not always shower in the morning – I skip it if I showered before bed the night before. I never drink coffee at home these days, so I either a) make myself a pot at work b) buy a cup at Einstein’s or Krispy Kreme or c) go without. Sometimes I’ll substitute Coke for coffee. I’ll not drink caffeine in the morning if I slept 7 or more hours the night before. If I have time in the morning I like to read the paper, if not then I catch up on news by listening to NPR on the drive into work.
Usually once I’m up that’s it for me; the caffeine is more in the form of a ritual.
My typical morning:
The alarm goes off at 0540 and I promptly hit the snooze bar for nine minutes of sleep.
The alarm goes off at 0549 and I promptly hit the snooze bar for nine minutes of inner debate and reflection.
[Morning Me] Why am I getting up so early?
[Responsible Me] You are going to the gym to get in shape so you don’t injure yourself and have to go through rehab again.
[Morning Me] Why don’t I sleep a little more and go later?
[Responsible Me] You must go to work so you get paid.
[Morning Me] Wha?
[Responsible Me] Money can be exchanged for goods and services.
[Morning Me] That is fascinating. But isn’t there a better way to pay the bills?
[Responsible Me] Not that we have found yet.
[Morning Me] What if I go to my garage later this morning and invent something, patent it, and retire independantly wealthy?
[Responsible Me] There is a certain amount of investment needed for whatever you may, or more likely not, invent. You still need money to test it, find investors, establish a market presence, etc. All the while, still having to pay the bills.
[Morning Me] What if I…
[Responsible Me] WILL YOU GET UP ALREADY!!!
This internal discourse continues until…
The alarm goes off at 0549 and I get up, grab my gear and head to the gym.
As to the OP, I don’t ever recall feeling a caffeine high. I have never felt “perked up” by drinking coffee in the morning and do so only at the coffee shops where coffee is cheap and it is all you can drink.
I hate mornings.
If I don’t have a morning shower, nothing will wake me up properly and I’ll feel like I’m going all day with those crusty bits in my eyes.
That thread about evening showering somewhere around here made me shudder.
I had a younger friend who would skip his high school classes and then come to my house(I was already out of HS for a few years) at the ungodly hour of 8 or 9 in the morning. His special method of getting me to wake up consisted of
A-Super strong pot of coffee
B-Plenty o’ smokes
and
C-Spliff
Now that truly is the right way to start your day.
My morning sched:
I wake up to the loud, annoying alarm clock, hit the snooze button (I set the alarm a few mins. early just for this), sleep, wake up again. Stumble around turning on lights and computer. Make three bathroom trips for toilet, shower and wash/brush/braid, in between laying out the day’s clothes, moisturizing, making the bed to deafeningly LOUD rock music on the headphones if it’s a late-class day, and checking the weather/SDMB/political scene online. Then off to breakfast.
I never drink coffee by itself–probably it’s just the dining-hall stuff which is crap, but it’s just too bitter. On a tired day I’ll put some in my hot chocolate. But it’s probably the rock music and breakfast that wakes me up.
My freaking roommate insists on getting up in time to go and eat a nice, long, leisurely, half-hour long breakfast, and cannot possibly take less than an hour getting ready in the morning. :mad: She wakes me up tromping through my room at about 7 AM. I doze until my alarm goes off at 8. If I actually get out of bed at 8, I shower, dress, then go down the coffee shop and grab (depending on how late I was up) coffee or a can of Red Bull.
If I fail to resist the siren song of the snooze button, I shower, dress, and grab a can of Mountain Dew out of my fridge, and haul ass to class. Stupid 9 AM classes…
I wake up naturally at 6 am every day.
Then, a protein bar, 2 cups of hazelnut coffee with 2% milk, and the Straight Dope Message Board.
Alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. I hit snooze.
Alarm goes off at 5:54 a.m. I hit snooze.
Alarm goes off at 6:03 a.m. I hit snooze.
Alarm goes off at 6:12 a.m. I hit snooze.
Alarm goes off at 6:21 a.m. I shut off the alarm, turn on the TV, and flip to the Weather Channel.
Watch local forecast at 6:28.
Rise, shower, shave (if necessary).
Dress.
Wander downstairs, fix myself a breakfast consisting of a huge glass of Orange Juice and a bowl of cereal (currently Grape Nuts). Eat cereal and drink OJ while watching a few minutes of Sportscenter (this usually sucks, because a the end of the program they’re doing stupid stuff rather then showing highlights of last night’s games.
Brush my teeth.
Walk to the Light Rail Station (about 6 blocks). Take a 10-minute train ride, arrive at work between 7:15-7:35.