# What is the time between you getting out of bed and the first firm commitment of the day? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198 "2011-01-11T05:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/1 "2011-01-11T05:33:59Z")
By first firm commitment, I mean the latest you could leave the house and still be on time for work/dropping kids off at school/your first class/a meeting/whatever. For me, I tried to keep it around 9 minutes but after one too many missed subways, I’ve now extended the leeway to 11 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/2 "2011-01-11T05:52:46Z")
Over two hours – if at all possible, I prefer to have a leisurely breakfast, groom pretty well, maybe grab some exercise (even a walk does it for me if I don’t feel like running or it’s too icy for me), read a bit, watch some porn (etc.), make some phone calls. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/3 "2011-01-11T05:56:29Z")
I allow 30-45 minutes to dress, have breakfast etc before I have to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/4 "2011-01-11T06:22:19Z")
If necessary, I can squeeze it down to 5 minutes. But usually, it’s about 20. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/5 "2011-01-11T06:23:08Z")
About half an hour, but that’s only because I have three kids to also get out the door. If it were just me: less than 10. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/6 "2011-01-11T07:31:30Z")
I could be up and ready to go to work in about 15-20 minutes if I absolutely had to. This assumes I skip breakfast. Usually I budget an hour so I don’t feel rushed. I like taking long showers and I like to put on my makeup at a leisurely pace. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/7 "2011-01-11T07:53:26Z")
I misread the poll question. I wake up an hour before I have to be somewhere, but that includes the commute to get to said place. I can be ready to go out the door in 10 minutes. I don’t eat breakfast and I shower at night, so it’s really a matter of rolling out of bed, throwing on some clothes, and doing the whole peeing/brush teeth/wash face thing as fast as possible. I like my sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/8 "2011-01-11T08:06:16Z")
You guys that do it in under 15 minutes must go out the door looking like you’ve just got out of bed 15 minutes ago. I take 15-20 minutes for shower and shave, let alone breakfast. Alarm goes at 6:00 Shower, shave, dress between 6 and 6:20. Make coffee, feed dogs, make lunch 6:20 - 6:30 Breakfast and coffee for me 6:30-6:45 Take dogs for walk 6:45 - 7:25ish Wake hubby and another coffee 7:25-7:40 Out the door headed for work 7:40 ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/9 "2011-01-11T09:01:29Z")
Well, the OP asked for the shortest possible time, so I answered 10-30 minutes in the poll. But my normal schedule is to wake up at 7:30 and be out of the house around 8:30. I usually take 5 minutes to drag myself out of bed, 10 minutes for a shower, 15 minutes to put on my makeup and dry my hair, 10 minutes for toast, 5 minutes back in bed to snuggle, 5 minutes to get dressed, and another 5 minutes to collect all my shit and get myself out the door. I usually also end up devoting 5 minutes to cleaning up some random mess the cat made during the night. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/10 "2011-01-11T09:43:40Z")
It takes me about 30 minutes to shit/shower/shave then get dressed. I don’t normally bother with breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/11 "2011-01-11T10:25:14Z")
I used to take under half an hour but with a nearly-three-year-old it takes much longer. I give us 90 minutes and some days that’s fine, others it is a stretch. I hate that I can’t predict if it will take her 3 minutes or 40 minutes to eat the same serving of breakfast cereal. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/12 "2011-01-11T10:40:07Z")
When I’m working a lot of overtime it’s 1 hr 45 min. I get up at 5am, bumble around for a bit, eat some breakfast and I’m in the car raring to go (thanks to caffeine) at 6:45 to be at work by 7. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/13 "2011-01-11T10:41:21Z")
I had to put other as it depends on what I am leaving the house for. See, we get up at 4 am weekdays, and I am always up at 5 am for my morning medications no matter what. [solid schedule, my day will _always_ be 5 am, 1 pm, 5 pm and 9 pm medications no matter what else I do. My droid alarms to alert me of medication times and any other appointments.] I may or may not go back to bed depending on what my day looks like. After I take my meds, if I do not go back to bed after breakfast [and unless it is a seriously special occasion it is oatmeal made with cinnamon and raisins.] I shower. I only wash my hair twice a week, and since I really don’t style my hair, I towel dry it and let it hang unbound to dry. I dress for the day, normally in a tshirt and sweats if staying home or just driving mrAru to work, or whatever clothing is appropriate for the activity I am going to do. I wear a bathing suit under sweats if it is a rehab day.[I do water rehab not land based rehab] Since my day always starts with a shower, combing and rebraiding my hair and dressing in at least tshirt and sweats, I can be out of the house in 10 minutes once normal peoples day starts unless I need to sort through and change clothing, or rummage around for something that needs to be taken [like if mrAru needs a change of clothing, or someone I know needs to borrow something I need to rummage around to find.] If we are going out and I need to be dressy, it may take longer because I need to rummage around and dig out dressier clothing. Probably rebrush and rebraid my hair. I don’t wear makeup so that is a moot issue =-) Call it half an hour at most. I spend more time waiting for mrAru or the roomie to get ready than I take to get ready. I am a pretty low maintenance female [other than my gimpitude issues =)] ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/14 "2011-01-11T12:29:27Z")
I try to get to work early, so I get up earlier than I would if I just wanted to walk in school as the bell rings. ---
**Author:** ![prettydorky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@prettydorky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prettydorky)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/15 "2011-01-11T13:05:01Z")
In a rush, I can be out the door in 10 minutes if I have to. I’d prefer to have 20. On a normal weekday I have to put the kid on the bus, so I guess that would count as my first firm commitment. I get up 6:35 for snuggle time with my son, and we need to be outside at 7:12-7:13, so…38 minutes. Then, I come back in and make tea and try to force myself to eat breakfast. I leave for work at 7:45 so I guess I’m in the over-an-hour category most days. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/16 "2011-01-11T13:40:49Z")
Shortest time is probably 15-20 minutes without being frantic. That’s shower, not washing my hair (it’s so thick that normally I wash it at night anyway), quick hair brush, deodorant, throw clothes on, grab my bags, check to make sure I have my stuff, refill the rabbits’ hay bin and water bowl, and go. If I laid out my clothes and things, it would take less time. As it is, I usually take maybe an hour to an hour and a half. I hate rushing in the morning; I hate running around early so I prefer a more relaxed start. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/17 "2011-01-11T13:41:46Z")
10mins at a push but that would mean only a quick wash of the hairy bits and no shower. Normally it’s more like 30mins. I don’t do breakfast and usually get anything I need really to go the night before. So it’s just shit, shower, dress and leave. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/18 "2011-01-11T14:02:15Z")
I have a personal commitment to get to work by seven, I’m technically supposed to be here by 8, but my first class doesn’t start until 8:45. I get up at 4:30 because I do part of my daily workout in the morning, and after that I like a little time to unwind, read the internet, eat breakfast. So if you count from the minute I get up to the first time I really have to be somewhere, it’s over four hours. I do go to bed early. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/19 "2011-01-11T14:09:31Z")
In a rush I can get out the door in 10 minutes. If I have 15-20 I can take a fast shower, comb my hair, and go out looking reasonably well-put together. Generally I allot myself about 40 minutes - get up at 8, brush teeth and shower, have breakfast while I read or watch a movie, pack my lunch, and head out and in the winter take a few minutes to warm up my car. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198/20 "2011-01-11T14:37:13Z")
It depends on how nummy I can look when i get there. For work about half an hour, if I just need to run errands about 10 minutes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-time-between-you-getting-out-of-bed-and-the-first-firm-commitment-of-the-day/567198.md?page=2)