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What can be done by a guy who by nature is a big night owl that simply can’t go to sleep at a reasonable hour, or get up early, and has huge trouble with the morning routine of davening Shachris with a minyan before commuting to work? And much more often than not ends up davening an abbreviated Shachris at home.
How does he know he can’t get up early if he doesn’t go to sleep early?
Try getting a night shift job.
there are strategies to be employed but takes seriousness and determination. need to take a good look inside and see if you really want this or don’t really hate the guilt inculcated. it’s not easy to change habit and routine and takes a lot of work – this is good opportunity to see how real you are with yourself judging by how you address this since it’s totally within your grasp and not a chemical makeup (nature) – you totally have within your power to make these changes you say you want (I’m assuming you are referring to yourself – if its someone else like a kid or roommate or talmid I can’t help you and don’t think it’s your choice to make)
Don’t try to change your entire pattern at one time.. Start with a realistic target of getting to sleep earlier two nights a week (e..g Sunday and Wednesday) so you get get to minyan for shachris with Torah reading on Monday and Thursdays…..if that works, add one day to your routine every few months. On those days you know you won’t make it to shul, make sure you do the full shachris at home.
1. Avoiding screen time (phones, computers, etc.) for an hour minimum before he intends to go to sleep. Exposure to the brightness of these screens, even for a few minutes, tricks the brain into daytime mode.
2. Not trying to go to bed early to kick off his new schedule – that’s just frustrating. Instead, forcing himself to get up early the next morning no matter what. His body will be much more amenable to an earlier bedtime the subsequent nights.
3. Focusing on the benefits of tefilla b’tzibbur. The added strength to his prayers going up, the amens, the kedusha, the satisfaction of knowing he is doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing and in the right place.
4. A little physical reward for making it to shul, like a nice cup of coffee or breakfast item, is not a bad idea.
5. He should be very rigid with the new schedule for at least a month – this allows it to become routine.
Gadolhadorah,
I think your approach is very good advice for a lot of goals, but I’ve found that varying wake up times (early on Monday, later on Tuesday, etc.) are hard on the body if we’re talking more than an hour difference. I daven at a hashkoma minyan on Shabbos morning, and often the latest possible davening on Sunday, especially during the summer when motzei Shabbos cleanup is late. When my Shabbos morning to Sunday morning wake up time is 2 hours different, I’ve found that I can get a nasty headache on Sunday, despite the extra rest.
Avram…..agreed that everyone’s body clock is different but you have to start somewhere. This guy acknowledges he is a “big night owl” and thus another option would be to go directly from the late-night pizza place to daven vasikim….but not sure that would work well either.
What have you tried so far?? I would start with these suggestions…
1. melatonin
2. limit caffeine
3. no food 4 hours before sleep time
4. exercise5. prayer 🙂
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