An ADHD life hack: how to get out of bed early

A 1-min magic trick for ADHDers who want to get stuff done

Mar 13, 2024

How long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning? Are you one of those people who just jumps up and gets their running trainers on immediately, or can you linger for hours before you finally drag yourself away from the comfort of your duvet?

As a late-diagnosed ADHDer, naturally I am slow to rise. I used to put it down to being exhausted after struggling to sleep. But a few years ago, I worked out a way to get to sleep much easier and therefore earlier, which meant I was waking up really quite early for the first time in my life. But even though I was awake at 6 am, I still wasn't getting out of bed until just before 9 am, when it was absolutely necessary.

So, finally, at the age of 40, I came up with a way to get myself going. And it works almost every time. Here it is.

My Steps – a magic trick for muddled minds

Every morning, after giving myself about 20 mins to do the daily Wordle and a little scrolling (I'm not a total psycho), I turn to my (only slightly weary) partner and say "Wanna hear my steps?" He has no real choice in the matter, of course, because before he even responds, I've started listing, out loud, the steps I need to take in order to get up.

I literally say:

Step 1: Sit up

Step 2: Take my meds

Step 3: Go to the bathroom, etc.

Quick and important side note before I finish this off: if you have ADHD, you might find yourself shuddering at the very idea of multi-step directions. ADHD brains are terrible at following these. The steps just don't stick for us, even when they are totally everyday and familiar, such as those included in doing the washing up, making dinner, or completing a morning routine. This is because our brains aren't good at anticipating the full sequence of steps right through to the end, where we'd get to the only part that has any hope of motivating us enough to actually get started. Instead, we get through a couple of points and then lose track.

That is, I've found… unless you say your steps out loud.

Language: your secret weapon against procrastination

So, this is what I do: I list my steps, out loud, to my partner, right through to the last one – make a coffee – which, I suspect, is the one that actually gets me out of bed.

I have tried to do this many times internally in a voice in my head, and it doesn't have the same effect. I get distracted and wander off track. This is because while thinking is inherently disorganised (when we think we're constantly searching for connections in all directions), the very nature of language is to organise, analyse and find meaning. When you put something into words, your brain will automatically start to create a narrative around it and impose order onto the experience, which makes something like the steps of your morning routine much easier to grasp, visualise and follow. The language organises your muddled thinking for you. Magic!

Can you do this alone?

What if you don't sleep next to someone who's patient enough to listen to this kind of nonsense every morning? I don't think it matters. I prefer to tell my partner my steps because it's become a bit of an in-joke for us, and it adds accountability, but he's not always there, and this still works when I say my steps out loud to the room in general.

So, that's it. That's the trick. I want to know if it works for you. Try it tomorrow morning if you're the type of person who struggles to get out of bed, come back and let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading!

We’re Hazel (ex boxer, therapist and author) and Ellie (ex psychology science writer). We left our jobs to build an interactive narrative app for self-awareness and emotion regulation (Betwixt), which you can try on Android here and on iOS here.