“Shut up. Please, stop talking. Go away.”

I’ve been having this awkward conversation every morning. It’s just me having some stern words with myself. I mean my brain. It’s all inside my head.

My brain has changed my daily routine. The most significant impact has been on those precious moments in the morning when I am on the edge of waking up. It’s that moment when the dream I was having is still there, but it’s fading fast.

My dreamlike state is being pushed aside by the voice inside my head. It’s around this time that I hear whispers: “You have things to do today.”

“No-no-no,” I say to my brain. “Shut up.” My eyes are closed, but the voice is clear. My agenda for the day starts rolling through my head.

I don’t want to get up before 8 a.m. I hit the sack every night between 11:30 and midnight. So I want those precious eight hours of ZZZs. But I am now having this morning confrontation with my brain, which starts jabbering between 7 and 8 or earlier.

My mornings are slow-mo. That’s how I roll, but my brain has turned the wake-up process into a tug-of-war.

“Go away,” I am thinking. “I’m not ready to leave this bed.”

“Today is garbage day. You didn’t forget, did you?”

“No. No. I did not for – or ... did I?” I try to go back to sleep, but often I give up. “All right. All right. You win.” Sometimes I say this out loud while throwing the bed covers aside.

Mr. Brain is a morning person. Chipper and ready to roll. And this problem can get weird. Lately, I’ve been waking up to a steady stream of Christmas carols. Just bits and pieces. There’s like a public address system in my head.

“Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you ... ”

“Whoa. Stop,” I’m telling myself, but I fill in the blanks. “... Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Then this happened a few days ago. I rolled out of bed, hurriedly pulled on some clothes and headed for my comfort zone – the couch. I was on a mission. I needed to look up a word.

Let me back up a bit. Earlier, I was in that slow slide into morning. Eyes still closed and then my brain wakes me with a single word – “Kerfuffle.” That’s right. Just the word. No story to go with it. Just me, eyes open now, thinking, “Kerfuffle? What does that mean? Why is that word in my head?”

I had a rough idea of what the word means. But I looked it up to be precise. A kerfuffle is a commotion or controversy or fuss, especially involving conflicting views.

I have no idea why the word was lingering in my brain. I do like the word. It’s fun to say – when I’m awake. Now that I think about it, I could say this morning’s dance with my inner thoughts has become a kerfuffle. My brain and I are at odds every morning.

I don’t disagree with my brain. The day’s agenda includes things I need or want to do. I’d just like our morning meeting to start later.

If my brain were clever, it would try this more gentle wake-up whisper: “Hey. Is that coffee I smell? Why not pour yourself a cup and ease into your day?”

“Shut up,” I’m thinking. “Go away.” But ... then I get up.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail the NewsTribune, 426 Second St., La Salle IL 61301.