Morning momentum for ADHD

Mornings don't have to be a willpower contest. Coach Alex Delmar shares a practical, ADHD-friendly plan to make mornings easier by doing the work at night, priming the brain in bed, and stacking cues that make getting up feel doable. Light, scent, water, music, and tiny rewards replace willpower with a plan you can repeat.

• defining morning by your wake target
• evening prep to cut decisions and reduce overwhelm
• coffee scent and breakfast anticipation as cues
• phone out of reach to prevent time loss
• alarms and light to start the wake cycle
• bedside water, meds, and a visible agenda
• in-bed activation with breath, stretches, and movement
• schedule check to trigger urgency without panic
• playlist, cold shower, and invigorating scents
• sunlight, movement, and social contact to lock in alertness
• rewards that only unlock after following the plan
• self-compassion and seeking coaching or peer support

 If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with someone who struggles to wake up, and leave a quick review—what’s one cue you’ll try tomorrow?

Chapters

• 0:00 Why mornings feel hard with ADHD
• 0:40 Defining “morning” and setting scope
• 1:17 Evening prep to reduce decision load
• 2:04 Light, alarms, and environment cues
• 3:12 In-bed activation and urgency
• 4:06 Movement, cold, scent, and sunlight
• 4:41 Rewards, self-compassion, and support
• 5:36 Closing and subscribe CTA

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Many people with ADHD have trouble getting going in the morning, but I'm going to tell you some things you can do to both cap the amount of awake time you spend in bed and to leverage that time you've been lounging around to help your day get off to a great start. I'm Alex Delmar, a certified ADHD coach and person with ADHD. Welcome to Thoroughly ADHD, where I share what I've learned to help other people with ADHD enjoy better lives. In the last episode, I talked about things you can set up once that will help for many mornings to follow. In this episode, I'll cover some steps to repeat every night and the actions you can take in the morning to ensure a smooth start, and some of them actually involve staying in bed for just a little while longer. I do understand that not all of us are following the same schedule, and people with ADHD often suffer from delayed circadian rhythm. So for our purposes here, to keep things simple, morning just means whatever time you want to wake up, and evening is whenever you want to go to sleep. That being said, the most important thing you can do in the evening is to do all your preparation for the next day. This is in order to combat overwhelm and decision fatigue upon waking and to minimize the number of things that might go wrong. It also helps you sleep easier, and the better you've slept, the more likely you are to have energy in the morning. In addition to packing your bag, picking your outfit, etc., set up an automatic coffee maker to start brewing before your alarm rings. Research has shown that even the scent of coffee helps people wake up. Also, do all the prep possible for a delicious breakfast. This gives you something to look forward to when you do get up. Before turning in for the night, leave your phone on the charger far away from your bed. This prevents you from using your phone in bed, which is helpful for getting to sleep. And upon waking, you don't automatically pick up your phone and lose all sense of time passing. Also, place your to-do list or agenda for the next day, a bottle of ice water, and your medication if you take any on the nightstand. Set your alarms for the morning. One that mimics sunrise will be most effective. Sunrise lets our brains know to start the wake cycle. So if outside your window is dark enough to sleep, it can also help to raise the blinds before getting in bed. Now everything is prepped to have a smooth morning with as little left to chance as possible, something to look forward to, and no decisions to be made while you're still half asleep. When your alarm goes off, don't hit the snooze button. Drink the cold water on your nightstand and take your medication to help you wake up. Take some deep breaths. Do some light stretches, and then some light exercise like pillow tosses or twists to get your blood flowing. Next, engage in a brief but rewarding activity that will get your brain working, such as making an entry in your gratitude journal or reading something that inspires you. Check your schedule for the day to remind yourself you actually do have something that needs to get done or somewhere you need to be, and in doing so, activate your sense of urgency. Then turn up your awesome get your butt out of bed playlist. Once you are out of bed to shake off any remaining grogginess, open the blinds if you didn't do it the night before. If you can bear it, take a cold shower and boost the effect by including invigorating scents such as lemon, rosemary, peppermint, or eucalyptus. The other things research tells us are helpful are to get outside, to increase movement, and to socialize. So a morning walk with someone else is a great way to combine strategies. If these waking up activities and outcomes from practicing a good morning routine aren't rewarding enough in themselves, decide on an activity that you only engage in on days you followed the plan. For instance, playing a game you love during your commute. Remember the ADHD brain loves rewards. On a final note, cut yourself some slack when you mess up. Remember you don't need perfection to make progress. If you'd like support implementing any of these ideas or want to develop a personalized plan, you can contact me, Alex Delmar, or another ADHD coach, or find an ADHD peer support group. I know your time is valuable, so I hope you found this useful. If you did, please like, follow, subscribe, and come back next Tuesday for more thoroughly ADHD tips like these. Thank you.