From the early days of living independently, I had lived in fear of missing the bus (what was the van at the time) to go to day services. This happened in the early days of my independent living and was part of the reason that I was never adhering to one of the psychotropic medications that I was prescribed. It has been until recently that I learned how to conquer this fear and learn to be ready.

I would have to preface this by saying that my body now automatically wakes me in the morning to start my day at a certain hour. While not totally ideal, I also know that it is Important to listen to signals to sleep. This includes being sure to take that medication with which I do struggle. It has been a prolonged relationship with it, but I now fully understand the dangers of not taking it. Yes, there have been instances where I have fallen asleep, but I follow the directions for taking it if the window has passed and regardless of that happening, I get up with or without the assistance of the alarm.

• Do not set the alarm beside your bed.

This was one of my biggest struggles when going through my estrangement with the medication. I had learned from a former staff member at my day services of the importance of keeping the alarm clock across the room so have to physically get out of bed and turn off the alarm clock.

• Do not go back to or stay in bed.

This was another of my struggles with being ready to go to where I needed to head out. I would initially get up, use the restroom, get a shower, then think about sleeping a bit. It was because I had not really medicated or slept consistently for an exceptionally long time, but it took to eliminate this dangerous habit by understanding the importance of staying as my dad would say perpendicular (upright) and alert.

• Do not lay in bed scrolling on your electronic devices.

This was yet another struggling habit. I would lay in bed scrolling on my electronic devices thinking I was alert, but I would fall back asleep without an alarm to keep me alert. As is often the case charging being necessary when asleep for the night and it is often unhealthy to have screens in bed. I have my charging stations with my alarm clock so the desire to scroll in bed is eliminated.

• Once you are up, you are up.

Do not retreat to bed for any reason for the rest of the morning routine. Make the bed. Stay in other rooms of the house. Keep busy and do other things to help start your day but avoid wanting to fall asleep. Not seeing the bed goes a long way in making that happen.

You must do what works for you. This is what works for me and has proven to be successful in keeping me on my feet once it is time to wake up. It has taken me a long time to establish the necessary things to do to find the right things to get me up and stay up. I would be amiss if I did not say that medication, going to bed at a decent hour and having a better bedroom that eliminates the opportunity to avoid not only getting out of bed but also staying out of bed and using the bedroom for the purpose of sleeping.