Office workers have it easy. When there is a train to catch, a carpool horn beeping or a boss standing at your office door looking at her watch, there are external motivating factors forcing you to get your butt out of bed and start the day. But when the only thing drawing you out from under warm, cozy blankets is an empty house and a long to-do list, you’re much more inclined to hit the snooze for another 15 or 30 minutes or go back to bed after a quick trip to the bathroom.

Never fear! What follows are 17 simple tips to help get you out of bed for good.

1) A splash of cold water. Sometimes the oldest tricks are the best ones. Splashing a little cold water into your face might be enough to close those pores but open those eyes. But if you don’t think you’ll be able to make it to the bathroom sink, keep a spray bottle filled with water on your nightstand, and when your alarm goes off, let yourself have it.

2) Brew coffee. The smell of hot coffee is invigorating even to those who dont drink it. Invest in a programmable coffee pot so that your Joe will automatically start brewing before you wake, waft through the air and draw you out of bed with its irresistible aroma. And even if you don’t drink the brown stuff, the worry of having to shut off the coffee pot might be enough to get you out of bed anyway.

3) Brush your teeth. This is an old dieters trick: Brushing your teeth will not only help keep you from eating more, but doing it first thing will help wake up your mouth and, in turn, your head and body.

4) Take a shower. Face it: There is no going back after you jump in the shower.

5) Get dressed. If you dont want to shower, at least get your PJs off and put on some less comfortable clothing. This can help keep you from wanting to lie back down.

6) Make your bed. You would be surprised how after you have made your bed, you wont feel the urge to crawl back in and mess it all up again.

7) Have your mom call. You can not snooze your mom or let the answering machine pick up in good conscience. The guilt alone would be enough to get you out of bed.

8) Schedule early meetings. Schedule phone calls, virtual conferences and meetings for first thing in the morning.

9) Picture this. Ah, another trick from a dieters handbook: Whereas dieters may keep fat photos of themselves on the fridge to keep from eating impulsively, pictures or photos to help get you motivated to work at home as well. For some, the images of Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey posted nearby will help them heed the call of duty; for others, the sight of Russell Crowe or Halle Berry may be enough to rouse (or is it arouse?) their inner go-getter.

10) Use stickies. Reminder notes work just as well on the nightstand as they do on the desk.  Post them near your alarm clock with inspirational quotes, to-do lists or the account balance in your business bank account—anything that will get you out of bed.

11) Get your body moving. Go for a walk or jog, or, if you cant get outside, just run in place next to your bed or do arm circles to get that heart pumping.

12) Get your mouth moving. Pop a mint, Altoid, Tic-Tac or another candy into your mouth when your alarm goes off. Its hard to fall back asleep when there is something in your mouth. Just make sure you sit up first. It will make us feel better, or else we will be worried.

13) Go to bed earlier the night before. We hate to sound like your mom, but you know its true: If you go to bed earlier, you will not only wake up early or on time, but you will feel more rested and refreshed.

14) Rotate your alarm clocks. Our brains get so used to the familiar sounds of our alarm clocks that they dont work as well as they should after a while. Change things up a bit, and use different alarm clocks with varying noises, buzzers, music, etc. If you have a TV in your room, use that too.

15) Put your alarm clock out of arms reach. If you have to get out of bed and go to the other side of the room to turn off your alarm clock, you are less likely to fall back into bed knowing that you will have to get up again in another 10minutes to journey there again.

16) Leave the blinds open. This way, you and the sun will be on the same schedule, and as the day lifts off the veil of night, so will your eyelids, helping you to wake naturally, with natural light.

17) Drink water before you go to bed. This seems like sort of a nasty trick to play on your resting body, but you know as well as we do that those bank accounts are not going to fill themselves. So for days when you really have to get out of bed, there is nothing like a full bladder to give you that extra nudge.

This article first appeared in the may/june 2007 issue of WHY magazine.