Only when I have insomnia - never consistently.

I pulled it off for two years. But I lived closer to the gym, and the gym was in the opposite direction from my apartment as work. Now the gym is a bit further away, and is between my apartment and the university, so if I'd have to do some serious backtracking if I wanted to shower at home after gymtime. No way I'm taking all my stuff to the slightly icky Y and getting ready there in the mornings.

I used to do this pretty much every day (even weekends) but I have no trick, other than forcing myself, which just means making a decision that I'll do it and then not wanting to renege. It's just like quitting smoking.

I'm about to start trying that again -- I decided I really couldn't justify paying for a gym after switching jobs, which means rolling out of bed at six and rowing instead. I've done it for weeks at a time, but when something breaks my pattern, I'm really bad at getting back into it.

In college, I liked 5:30 crew practice, but it was because I had to show up or no one else in the boat could row. I'd sleepwalk to practice, and not fully wake up until I'd been rowing for fifteen minutes -- I used to really enjoy that moment of alertness when I finally looked around me and realized where I was.

My technique is not to go to the gym and accept being out of shape.

It's just like quitting smoking.

Or not getting cancer.

Whenever I drink a lot the night before, I always wake up very early the next morning. Give that a try.

"Working out", eh? Sounds like quite the deal. What's involved?

i've been running regularly in the AMs the past 7 months or so. and the only way i've been able to do it is by having a partner or group to join. i have no problem getting up at 6am to join my running group, but if i know nobody will be out there to meet me, i will snooze for hours. you might want to see if you can find a workout partner to motivate you.

I have always, when I've worked out or run, done so in the afternoon or evening. Exactly once, last summer, I woke up at the crack of dawn at 5am and was possessed with a need to run. What a run! The dew was on the grass, the friendliest people were in the park, I listened to music and ran right down the center of the park in whatever way I wanted because dammit I could. It was delicious, and one of the most satisfying runs I ever had.

I never did this again.

running in the AM sucks. the only time i'll do it is in July and August when the early AM is the only time when it's below 80 deg outside. but it makes me feel like crap - brain-dead and a little nauseous for hours afterwards.

I've always wanted to be one of those people who gets up in the morning with enough time to eat a healthy breakfast and then get to campus in time to go over my preparations before class, the whole time moving at a relaxed pace. Oh yeah, and the radio is only telling me good news the whole time.

Any suggestions?

10 is sad.

It's just like quitting smoking.

Except it doesn't make you smell better.

Can't do it in the morning.

It feels abnormal to me to go to bed before 1AM, or wake up before 8AM. I feel awful until at least lunchtime if I have to get up earlier than that. This included every day of middle school and high school.

I pull this off for phases here and there and what works for me is a finely tuned system of rewards. If I get my ass up at 5:30 and get to yoga, then I buy my breakfast out. Or lunch. Or I take a nap with my kid. You see where I am going with this. After a couple of weeks it just starts to take and the rewards become less critical.

Any suggestions?

Don't teach any classes that start before 10:30.

I think the key is constant relocation. Every two weeks, Becks should move somewhere where the local morning lines up with her normal workout time back in NYC. After a while, she'll readjust, at which point, she moves again.

Maybe one of the mathematicians can work out the most efficient way for Becks to location cycle.

I'd love to work out in the mornings, but my obstacle is the extra time I'd need for eating -- a little snack before, a substantial meal after. Time for eating + time for working out = getting up way too early.

She could get a job as intercontinental cabin crew. And only work on eastbound flights. Or do I mean westbound?

20: That's the kind of outside of the box thinking that's going to lick this AM problem. We can delegate this East/West issue to someone else.

4: In college, I liked 5:30 crew practice, but it was because I had to show up or no one else in the boat could row

Not having other people dependent on my presence, I abhorred, cursed, despised, detested, disliked, hated, loathed, reviled and missed as many morning swim practices as I could. In high school I would set my clock slow while my father (candidate for world's most punctual man) would set his fast and we would argue about what time it was at dark thirty in the morning. Good times! Even when I lived in Houston, I would jog at midnight to avoid the heat rather than first thing in the AM (even though it was in fact cooler in the morning).

13: 10 is great.

19- I'm similar. Working out in the morning would be great, but I'd be rushing around- scarfing down breakfast, throwing on the clothes to get to work quickly.

After work, I'm much more relaxed in that routine. I don't actually need to get to work by a certain time, but I can't get out of that mindset.

You have to get into a routine.
You need shame. (Preferably, people who will mock you if you do not show up.)
To get in the cycle, you have to go to bed early. Unfortunately, that is impossible until you wake up early. Wake up and suffer for a couple of days. Then, you will start to go to sleep early.

I feel slovenly if I do not wake up before 7 am. (And I am a very slovenly guy.)

I am like you. Can't pull it off. I'm groggy and pissed off in the morning, and there is a lot of pressure to pull myself together for work etc.

18's is the most practical suggestion.

I'd like to be able to get to the gym for a 7am start, but only a workout partner who would actually show up at my house and park outside honking and ringing my mobile phone would get me to do it.

I've wanted to do this too, because when I have done it, it makes me feel great and energetic all day long, but I can't seem to pull it off for more than a week at a time.

But yeah, like everyone else has said, a workout partner will do it. The few times I've done it at all, I've had an agreement to meet someone.

I feel slovenly if I do not wake up before 7 am. (And I am a very slovenly guy.)

Sorry, Will, but that one gets a buzzer.

See? Jesurgislac and m. leblanc believe in shame too!

I prefer working out in the morning mainly because it tends to improve my mood during the ensuing day from "bitter" to "sardonic," but I find the only things that help get me out of bed at the necessary 6:45 to 7 are (i) going to sleep earlier than 11:30 at night, (ii) keeping protein bars, vitamins and bottled water* in the same respective places so habit can get me through the first few groggy minutes and (iii) getting my workout clothes out the night before. Worked this morning, but it's still kind of hit or miss.

* Yes, I know and feel guilty.

Sorry, Will, but that one gets a buzzer.

Is a buzzer good or bad?

(iii) getting my workout clothes out the night before.

Yes. Good idea Flippanter! If you have everything ready the night before, you will feel more compelled to get up.

If you have everything ready the night before, you will feel more compelled to get up.

Caveat: a neat little pile of shorts, sex-appropriate infrastructural support garments, t-shirt and ankle/knee bandages can do only so much.

The workout clothes all ready is key. It's not a question of being compelled to get up, it's a question of actually being able to stumble out of the house in any kind of a timely manner.

It's not a question of being compelled to get up, it's a question of actually being able to stumble out of the house in any kind of a timely manner.

Compelled because you do not have a time excuse.

Yeah, packing up and being completely ready to go the night before is critical for me. Otherwise I'll find excuses.

Do it at the weekend?

All you people without small children crack me right up. Exercise in the morning! Hilarious!

Building on John Emerson's suggestion in the other thread, if you have the burrito already in the microwave and ready to heat up, it will compel you to awaken and become productive (for various values of 'productive').

Divorce Apo! Divorce!!!!

Half the time, you have the kids and you are waking up early. The other half, you can work out.

Divorce doesnt just help you lose the weight. It helps you work out!

I always work out in the morning because I like the fact that I can get on any of the equipment that I need for that day's workout. My gym is busy enough that any other times it is pretty hit or miss. Also my gym is right next to my work so I can workout, shower, and walk the block to my office.

When I was figure skating regularly, what helped get my ass out the door in the morning was that the ice was only available from 7-9. Perhaps if your gym offers morning classes, that would appeal to your inner tightwad who can then kick your inner sloth.

I have the problem that I am absolutely addicted to a two-hour lazy morning. If I have to leave for work at 6am (two-hour commute), I'll get up at 4 just so I'll have plenty of time to read the internet, make coffee and a good breakfast, take a long and satisfying shower, stare out the window, read a book, etc. I'm not a "morning person" in the sense that I *like* mornings or feel vigorous during them. I'm a morning person in that I need quite a few hours to get adjusted to being awake and alive, during which I'm not stressing about work or anything else.

At night, I have way too much energy, I rush through everything, and will often prepare something incredibly lazy for dinner so I can rush off somewhere. I also don't read at night, at least not well. But I always have energy to leave and rush around after 7pm or so. No idea why.

The mother of a friend of mine used to do this. She worked at the Agriculture department, and there was an onsite gym. She went to bed around 9, got up really early and showered and dressed at work. I've always thought that it would be great to have a permanent locker at the gym and one which was long enough to hold dress clothes. I've never quite mastered the mechanics of putting a suit and heels in the locker.

I am trying to get myself into exercising a bit in the AM. I haven't made it to the 6:30 AM Yoga classes, so I'm going to work on doing some sun salutations at home. It's not a full workout, but it does get the blood flowing and make one feel better during the day, though you'd still want to go to the gym on other days.

Here's a trick I've figured out. YMMV.

I think the ability to get up in the morning is largely correlated to blood-sugar levels. My working suspicion about myself is that when I eat foods late at night that have a high glycemic index (i.e., make my blood sugar spike), such as bread, beer, etc., then I have incredible difficulty getting up early the next morning. I think it's because that spike is, inevitably followed by a crash, which tends to hit after several hours. If I am keeping a clean diet -- meat and vegetables, seeds and nutes, etc. -- and don't eat late at night, that seems to keep blood sugar levels more moderate, and I can get up earlier.

I have no idea if this is scientifically accurate, but it seems to work for me, so I'll pass it along to see if anyone else shares that experience.

Also -- an old trick from when I had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn for two-a-days in college: drink plenty of water the night before, right before you go to bed. It's easier to get up if you have to pee like a racehorse. Of course, if your the kind of person who has to get up in the middle of the night to go, that won't work for you, but I never was.

Having the gym bag all packed up is pretty critical no matter what time I'm going to work out.

Also, I need to work out on an empty stomach, and I also need food pretty soon after getting up. That makes it rather tricky to get in for morning workouts.

Now that I think about it, the only time I was able to consistently work out in the mornings was when our bathroom was ripped out and I needed to shower at the gym. So Becks, ask your landlord to start a lengthy remodel of your bathroom(s) and you should be golden.

44: Two hours? Christe eleison.

Going straight past the Kyrie and rounding the bend!

two hours sounds very civilized

Try a sunrise-simulator alarm clock. There was one panned on msnbc.com recently. But others at amazon.com got good reviews.

You're a night person or a morning person, it's inborn. Being an extreme night person is statistically associated with being disorganized and potentially insane. Correlated with schizophrenia, etc.

All you people without small children crack me right up. Exercise in the morning! Hilarious!

I thought "running around after the kids" gave you parents all the exercise you needed. At least that's what actresses tell the gossip rags after they've dropped all their baby weight in 2 months.

If you tell me that Catherine Zeta-Jones and Us Magazine have been lying to me all this time, I.. I just won't know what to do.

I am neither a morning person nor a night person. I am just in the middle. I like to get up at 7:00 and go to bed at 11:00.

hbgb, that makes you a morning person in my book.

I just try to be the best heebie I can be. If that makes me a morning person, so be it.

I am like AWB. I have to get up way before I have to be presentable in order to feel acclimated to living.

You people are all fucking insane.

Yeah, well, you're a bitch.

We can't all be effortless hott like you, B. Some of us have to work at it.

I have a sunrise-simulator alarm clock with a sunset feature. I really like it, but they are expensive. I need it because of seasonal affective disorder. It used to be absolutely crippling from October to January, but the dawn simulator helped a lot. I had SRS 100 from Morning Sunrise, but that broke within a year, and they ignored all of my e-mails about getting it repaired. Apollo Health Systems is a more reputable company (they're known for doing light therapy research too). Theirs is almost twice as much money, but it comes with a radio, and you can get it for quite a bit less than that from Costco.

I think I just went through way too many years of my life when I felt like I was always late, always rushing out the door. I have a really funky stomach in the morning and need time to ingest my coffee or tea, and make something semi-substantial for breakfast, like a two-egg omelet and toast.

When I was a teenager, I'd wake up 5 minutes before walking out the door, with no breakfast or shower (it was the mid-90's, so that was okay), and I was always, always running late. I'd fall asleep in class or just be too stressed to concentrate on anything. I was pretty much this way all through college too. I could never find the right books or papers as I was leaving, and if it turned out the clothes I was going to wear were dirty, I'd flip out.

Now, I actually leave to teach having gotten all my materials in order. I'm fed, caffeinated, clean, dressed, organized, and calm when I leave the house. It's actually helped to solve a lot of my previous mood imbalances.

52: I really hope it's overrideable. I'm pretty naturally a night person, at least that's what I've been through all my years of school and work thus far. The new job is going to require early mornings. Very early mornings. Like, butt-in-seat-at-7:30-early mornings.

This may impinge on my nights spent drinking until 4 am, and this has caused a minor existential crisis.

Have not read the thread, but to make a suggestion on the question posed, one approach is to find something--a team, a class, a workout buddy--to which you make a commitment. The only times I have even come close to starting to get back in shape since I retired from the Army have been when I had someone I had committed to working out with. It's easy to ignore going to the gym by yourself, it's much harder to ignore a friend who you know will be waiting there for you.

When I was a teenager, I'd wake up 5 minutes before walking out the door, with no breakfast or shower (it was the mid-90's, so that was okay)

I can one-up this: in high school, I'd get dressed the night before and sleep in my clothes, so that all I had to do in the morning was brush my teeth and go.

63: That can be a real shock to the system. Good luck!

Me too, and my school was only a block away, barefoot in the snow uphill both ways.

You could just try this and get a workout while at work!

Divorce Apo! Divorce!!!!

Already did that once, Will. I've gotten too used to the food this time around. If you want to keep your divorce options viable, marry a lousy cook. Make not the mistakes I have made, young commenters.

I am neither a morning person nor a night person

I'm not a sleep person. I'm usually falling asleep between 2 and 4 am and up by 7 at the very latest.

Is this because of the kids or always, apo? Because if you've always been able to get by on that little sleep, I say, "damn you." Yesterday, I fell asleep from 9-10, went to bed, woke up at 3, fell back asleep and woke up at 5:10. I am now exhausted and yawning and reading unfogged instead of writing cover letters. I had a larger-sized coffee than normal too.

I'm usually falling asleep between 2 and 4 am and up by 7 at the very latest.

Unreal. I'm jealous that you can function on that little sleep. I'm sure I'll get acclimated a little once I have kids, but I've got a super-rigid sleepometer that goes fucking bonkers when I'm just a little sleep deprived.

The getting up at 6 or 7 is because of the kids, but I've averaged ~4 hours of sleep a night since college. The past year or so, I've noticed that I now need about 5-1/2 hours to function at full speed the next day.

I've got a super-rigid sleepometer

Is that what Jammies calls it?

it was the mid-90's, so that was okay

I didn't have to shower in the mid-90's? Huh. I never seem to get the memos.

65 is awesome.

Seriously, though, folks: how fucked up is it that we *envy* people who can get by on a few hours of sleep?? Or that we wish we enjoyed getting up at 5 am?? What's the point of being spoiled Americans if we don't get to sleep at least 9 hours at night, and putter about until noon?

If you showered all through the 90's, you're allowed to take this decade off, you know.

but I've averaged ~4 hours of sleep a night since college.

Unbelievable. I'm so, so jealous. Jeez, a few weeks ago I went two days with like 6 hours of sleep, and found myself driving on the wrong side of the road. I swear to god. I was so out of it. I ended up ending class early because I couldn't think straight enough to answer their questions.

if we don't get to sleep at least 9 hours at night

Not acceptable. That would really cut into my internet time.

65. Under the circumstances, why brush your teeth?

I need 8-9 hours of sleep or I get nagging headaches that lead to social unrest.

Seriously, though, folks: how fucked up is it that we *envy* people who can get by on a few hours of sleep??

Seriously, half of SkyMall is contraptions to wake up people who are so sleep-deprived that conventional alarm clocks won't do the trick.

Fuck the internet. You people are not as important as naps.

You're that important to me, B.

Just as long as you don't expect me to return the favor.

In fact, I think I *am* gonna go take a nap now. Toodles.

Isn't it 9 in the morning where you live?

I was reading this article the other day (at the spa while awaiting my massage!) that advised that the trick to getting by on 2 hours of sleep per day is to sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours. Supposedly the first week sucks, and then you adjust. Someone should try this and tell us how it goes!

I'm the same way, heebie. I tend to start dropping things. Any tendencies toward social awkwardness are greatly exaggerated too. I forget to say goodbye to people, because the only thing that I can contemplate is how very tired I am.

I would not last as a farm hand. I am such a wuss.

86: Yes, several weeks without REM sleep won't drive you crazy or anything.

I was reading this article the other day (at the spa while awaiting my massage!) that advised that the trick to getting by on 2 hours of sleep per day is to sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours. Supposedly the first week sucks, and then you adjust. Someone should try this and tell us how it goes!

A friend of mine tried this. It didn't go well.

I'm another like AWB. I teach at 9:30am and have to be up, at my desk, working, and drinking coffee by 5am in order to be marginally sane and competent in class.

(I used to run in the morning before I did anything else, but it just ended up ensuring that my matinée would be plus grosse and I wouldn't really start working until 11 or so.)

I'm with AWB in needing some quiet time to start the day. Running in the morning means getting up around 5, making and drinking coffee, reading the papers, going out to run about 6, back home to shower and eat, make lunch, chat with wife and kid, and head out the door 7:30ish. I can't consistently do that 5 days a week, but I can get 2-4 when I'm being reasonable about getting to bed at night.

What's the point of being spoiled Americans academics if we don't get to sleep at least 9 hours at night, and putter about until noon?

(I kid, I kid.)

I'm with AWB in needing some quiet time to start the day. Running in the morning means getting up around 5, making and drinking coffee, reading the papers, going out to run about 6, back home to shower and eat, make lunch, chat with wife and kid, and head out the door 7:30ish.

See, for me, that's a schedule for getting out the door at 7:30 except with no time alloted for the run. How do you fit a run in there?

90: oudemia, I hope that you're talking about your desk at home and not at school. The only thing that could get me up and out of bed at 5 on a regular basis is crew.

I'd get dressed the night before and sleep in my clothes, so that all I had to do in the morning was brush my teeth and go.

I did this last winter, but it was because my apartment was about 54 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple months, and I was far better equipped to handle the psychological devastation of taking my clothes off in those conditions at night than I was in the morning.

Three words, Ned: electric oil radiator.

88: The article insisted that your body will adapt so that it enters REM sleep more quickly. "You'll know you've made the adjustment when you start dreaming during your naps."

93: Between 6 and 6:30 or 6:45. Then 45+ minutes for breakfast, lunch-making, showering, chatting, and getting ready to go. And I can fudge and leave as late as 7:45-7:50 and still get the kid to school by 8--living close to school and work helps a lot.

94: Oh golly, yes. Desk at home.

45+ minutes for breakfast, lunch-making, showering, chatting, and getting ready to go.

See, this is what I'm talking about when people say "gender roles don't matter!" It takes me about 45 minutes just to shower and get ready on any day where I have to look "professional." Teh patriarchy = sleep deprivation and/or no exercise.

Heh. I talk about being poorly groomed, but I do make a profit on it in terms of time getting ready; if I'm not dawdling, I can shower and dress in 10-15 minutes no problem.

I don't even wash my hair in the mornign, because it takes too damn long. The only thing I've managed to make work is to wash my hair at night, let it air dry and then straighten it with a flatiron. I do this 3 times a week (sometimes only 2). If I exercise more, I'll need to wash my hair more.

100: Eh, my wife doesn't take much longer to get ready than I do.

101 is right. In a pinch I can leave the house in under 10 minutes from leaving bed, showered and in clean clothes. Of course my hair is about 1/2 inch long.

How do you shower in less than 8 minutes? You've got to brush your teeth for 2 minutes and use the toilet too. I am totally inefficient.

Also, I often have to rest for a few minutes after showering or bathing, because I frequently feel a little bit light-headed.

I can get out the door in 45 minutes if I need to. Otherwise I tend to lounge.

How do you shower in less than 8 minutes? You've got to brush your teeth for 2 minutes and use the toilet too.

Duh, you do all three simultaneously, then mash the crap down the drain with your feet. We've been over this previously.

How do you shower in less than 8 minutes?

Quickly. Ok, but seriously, if I've overslept or whatever and I'm running late, most times I find I'm almost instantly awake and can move fast. I'll sometimes make coffee (while I'm in the shower) to go but I'm not dawdling.

Of course, with the job I have now, this basically never happens because it doesn't matter when I show up, most days.

Of course my hair is about 1/2 inch long.

That's the difference right there. If I don't wash my hair, I can get out the door in 10 minutes, 15 tops.

Duh, you do all three simultaneously, then mash the crap down the drain with your feet. We've been over this previously.

Soupy calls this "making coffee in the shower".

I can get out fast, if I've really overslept and am in panic mode, but I usually don't shower then.

109: Yeah, I wasn't suggesting it was magic or anything.

You've got to brush your teeth for 2 minutes

BG, poster child for the ADA.

110: Damn. Will all my efficiency secrets be revealed?

soup has magical hair!

You've got to brush your teeth for 2 minutes

BG, poster child for the ADA.

Well, what else is she going to do while sitting on the toilet.

I used to be a lot faster at showering. Then I had a horribly low-pressure shower situation where it would take me 15 minutes just to rinse off, shampoo, etc cause it took so damn long. Then my shower got fixed, but I'd gotten so used to just standing there in the shower that now my whole routine is permanently lengthened.

BG, poster child for the ADA.

Hardly, I need to get back into flossing.

Well, what else is she going to do while sitting on the toilet.

I have an aversion to doing anything other than peeing or crapping on the toilet. Even the thought of reading at the same time bothers me.

Jammies bought us one of those rain-forest shower heads that swivels out to the middle of the shower and has nice big droplets and I love it so, so much. (I don't shower in the morning, though.)

When I was a kid I used to be into flossing. Now I'm more into post-flossing. That stuff is really underground, ya know?

119: Showering together is not time-efficient, in my experience.

According to my a friend of my brother's, the last stage of alcoholism ("water-head") leads to, among other things, the practice of eating hard-boiled eggs when sitting on the toilet. When he observed someone doing that, it was the last straw that made up his mind to get help and enter treatment.

Not a joke. True fact.

||
You know what I hate? When you're feeling lousy enough that you don't want to do any work, but no so lousy that you didn't come in. Hence the auto-refresh on unfogged, I guess.
>

It's the main drag about long hair that it takes so damn long to dry: an hour is about the best I can do to shower and get out the door, and that's in a very efficient, no-nonsense kind of way. Hair gets washed every other day, therefore.

119: Showering together is not time-efficient, in my experience.

But it delightfully offends Jammies' prudish younger sister!

125. That's some prudish. When there were power shortages over here 30 years ago, there were Government advertisements saying "Save water, bath with a friend".

Sometimes a shower together is just a shower. That can be efficient.

127: It can be, if the shower is big enough. But probably no more efficient than one at a time.

125 is excellent.

126: I tried that line once. Worked pretty well.

I love the lazy, two-hours before I go in morning. When I had a job, I would get up at seven and make it in around 10, paper read, omelet made, putt puttered. Now that period extends into the middle of the afternoon. Cultivating the writer's discipline is a tricky thing, and I've found that writing with a partner helps a heckuva lot.

Even the thought of reading at the same time bothers me.

My goodness. You and I have totally opposite bathroom philosophies. When I run out of magazines, I start reading the backs of shampoo bottles.

When I run out of magazines, I start reading the backs of shampoo bottles.

"Hmm, this one has sodium laureth sulfate, and this one has sodium lauryl sulfate. I wonder if those are the same thing? And what about sodium dodecyl sulfate?"

"And what's the difference between 'body' and 'volume' anyway?"

I am in the 130 camp. I am personally offended when people don't have reading material in their bathrooms. When I was growing up, my grandfather paid for a continuous subscription to Reader's Digest that my mom would have begged off but it made such good bathroom reading. When I had my first post-college apartment, my mom sent me a couple years' subscription as a lark.

I sometimes read Unfogged from the toilet, but I never comment because that would be impolite.

I really don't understand reading in the bathroom. I mean you can't read an entire article in one go unless it's pretty short. Do you just read snippets at a time?

135: I've never known a woman to do it, but I've known a few guys who could get quite a bit of reading done in the bathroom. I'm not sure if there is a biological explanation for this.

The men's stalls here always have print-outs of daily fund industry news sheets come 10-10:30 am. I believe it's a couple of the sales guys who bring them in, but they keep getting picked up and read throughout the day. The occasional ESPN.com article printout isn't unusual either.

When you open the stall and find the tabloid-size local free daily tucked behind the seat, you know that a man of truly unusual gumption has recently dropped a deuce.

But it delightfully offends Jammies' prudish younger sister!

I realize that you are tiny, but if Jammie's sister is built like him, I fail to see how the three of you can fit.

135: We pretty much subscribe to Science News because it is great bathroom reading for that reason. Short little snippets, sometimes interesting.

For me the desire to read on the can a consequence of a wish to remove my attention from the ugliness of my surroundings. We have a split bathroom with the smallest of toilet-closets, and as such, absent some reading material, time spent on the can is time spent staring at a white door while pondering the unpleasant smells that result from my bodily functions.

Commenting from the toilet is deeply satisfying.

you can't read an entire article in one go

Unless it's a blog post, you mean.

Urinals with TVs mounted over them freak me out. Peeing, no SportsCenter!

Mirror TVs are freaky too. How long do you intend to stare at the mirror, exactly?

Commenting from the toilet is deeply satisfying.

If you're telling you occasionally comment from elsewhere, I never want to be in your home.

One learns so much about one's fellow commenters in these threads.

144: well geez it's not like I'm fully submerged .

I haven't commented from the bathroom since my laptop died.

I figured anyone commenting from the bathroom or reading blogs there must have a Blackberry or an iphone. Taking a laptop in would be cumbersome and make the trip that much longer. I mean, do you want to hang out in the bathroom?

"I haven't commented from the bathroom since my laptop died. We were on patrol near the sink. Charlie opened up out of nowhere. He took one meant for me. What a -- what a brave little soldier...." [sobs] "Damn you, LBJ!"

Apparently the thread has moved on, but:

1. As others have said, having a workout buddy is absolutely the most effective strategy. Nothing else, in my experience, is even close.

2. Speaking of which, if anyone is affiliated with NYU and wants to work out in the mornings, let me know.

3. Another idea: You could try that new website that lets you put up money to motivate yourself.

148: depends if the Senator's there.

Some people take a long time to poop. Others, I believe, have a kind of "read and let nature take its course" approach -- take one man, one novel, one toilet, and pants around the ankles, place them in a small room, and eventually shitting will come to pass.

A tabloid survey reported that over a third of Czechs SMSd on the toilet. Probably Praguers, though.

Now that nobody cares and we're talking about bathrooms, my contribution to the original problem: I fought the get-up-early-go-gym demon forever and I thought I'd never, never, slay it. And yet, here I am, going to the gym, or running, or to work early every morning now. For me it took a rather massive concerted effort involving: a social obligation (having to meet someone there and enduring grumpy looks and terse, insincere "no problems" if I was late), a monetary obligation (I had to buy coffee if I was late - hey, it adds up), a radical audit and rejiggering of my TERRIBLE sleep hygeine, a willingness to publicly use the term "sleep hygeine," an array of rewards made available if and only if I managed to get up in time, and a sort of composed accident whereby combining several forced early mornings with my usual late nights finally forced the issue of just giving up and going to bed early, and subsequently being able to sleep through the night for a change. Oh, also, 2 alarm clocks (a radio alarm set to a station that plays music you hate is quite effective), and a light on a timer hanging directly over the head-end of my bed (the onset of diffuse light sensed through closed eyelids contributes to calibrating circadian rhythms).

Since my first successful week, I've fallen off the horse a few times, and it's damnedably difficult to get back on, but not nearly as hard as the first time.

I am personally offended when people don't have reading material in their bathrooms.

i thought that's why cell phones have games.

Tetris is a fine laxative.

I mean, do you want to hang out in the bathroom?

I have three kids, BG. The bathroom is the only time I get to myself, other than the wee hours of the morning.

Fair enough, apo. But do the childless also enjoy the bathroom in this way?

Also, my poo smells like roses.

The bathroom is the only time I get to myself

Cf. Portnoy's Complaint.

I really hope it's overrideable. . . . The new job is going to require early mornings.

My report is that it is overrideable, but that it takes something out of you, and never feels quite "right" (at least within the first year and a half).

""And what's the difference between 'body' and 'volume' anyway?""

And why can't you find shampoo that just cleans your hair? I don't want body, volume, shine, or sleekness. I want clean hair.

"Others, I believe, have a kind of "read and let nature take its course" approach -- take one man, one novel, one toilet, and pants around the ankles, place them in a small room, and eventually shitting will come to pass."

That's me, that is. What's the rush? It's quality reading time.

And why can't you find shampoo that just cleans your hair? I don't want body, volume, shine, or sleekness. I want clean hair.

Use a small quantity of cheap liquid dishwashing detergent. It's the same stuff without the smelly shit.

My report is that it is overrideable, but that it takes something out of you, and never feels quite "right" (at least within the first year and a half).

Oof, not what I wanted to hear, especially after having an "Is this what I really want to do? Should I be working so seriously at my age? Maybe I could just quit and move to NYC and be a total Brooklyn hipster with four roommates for a bit while working a shitty 38 hours a week job?" kind of morning.

On the bright side, between finally adjusting to an early morning schedule, graduating with my MBA, and getting a six-week paid sabbatical in addition to my vacation time, my life is going to rule... in summer of 2009.

Oof, not what I wanted to hear

Mileage varies, I'm sure.

I've always had the unfortunate combination of being very sensitive to amount and quality of sleep, and a slight tendency towards insomnia.

getting a six-week paid sabbatical in addition to my vacation time

!!!

Mileage varies, I'm sure.

Yeah, I have an inclination to being a night person, but I get up at 5:30 now so I can go to the gym. It hasn't been much of a problem for me after the first week.