Heyo folks. I’ll get right to it: I need suggestions for how to stay awake during the day so I can sleep at night. I don’t work due to my anxiety disorder, so that’s out of the picture. I want to wake up between 8-10am and go to bed at 11-12 the night before. My schedule is messed up due to thoughts like “I won’t sleep tonight” (the catalyst for which I’ve discussed on other posts; don’t really wanna get into it here). I set my alarm, wake up at 10am, think “screw this” and go back to sleep, wake up, then back to sleep again–today, until after 3pm. That, of course, will mess up my sleep at night.

I’ve tried the medication route, which isn’t really a solution for me, and doesn’t make me feel rested or physically very good when I wake up. I’m looking for suggestions on something that will get me up and out of the apartment regardless of how badly I want to go back to sleep. I realize that my own mind is very powerful, and that I could easily discard any information you give me when I wake up tomorrow morning–when the desire to go back to sleep is very very strong.

However, I’d still like suggestions…maybe things that will make me happy to get up anyway and stay awake. The biggest thing is that, after avoiding many things for many years, I don’t have a schedule during the day. I do exercise regularly, and at times I’ve gotten up and gone to the gym, only to come home, take a shower, and go back to sleep. When I do wake up around 8 and stay awake, 4 hours later I’m absolutely ready for sleep again, because I didn’t sleep well the night before. So it’s a circle.

Suggestions?