Thursday, April 13, 2017

Don't Be Alarmed - But I am going to say something radical



A Facebook friend recently posted that his cat, has found the button to turn off his alarm clock and did so three mornings in a row this week - turning the alarm off just before it went off.  

My radical suggestion was to stop setting an alarm clock.  I stopped setting my alarm clock about 8 years ago.  I did it by accident, I simply forgot to press the button, and I found that I woke up and went on my way, pretty much on time, without being jolted out of sleep by the clock.  The vast majority of days, I am on time, without an alarm.  If I have an unusually early meeting or airline flight I will set the alarm on my phone, maybe 5 or 6 times a year.  The rest of the year, I sleep without an alarm.  I think I sleep better.  I am conscious of needing to go to sleep earlier, if I need to be up earlier. My sleep is not disturbed in mid dream by an arbitrary alarm.  This last year I bought a new bedside clock-radio - I have never learned how to set the alarm on it.  It has one, I have never tried to use it.  

Try going alarmless, you might find that you like it.  

Do you set a daily alarm clock? 

13 comments:

  1. there is no clock in my bedroom, nor do I wear a watch. "time is fleeting..."

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    1. PS - and isn't seattle's pike place market FABU!

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    2. AM - yes - and it was fantastic.

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  2. I wish I had a cat who knew how to turn off the alarm. But, I would just keep sleeping. I am not working, so I only set the alarm when I need to be somewhere. Sometimes, I take a nap and set the alarm so I won't sleep six hours. I despise the sound of the alarm. Like you said, it jolts me awake. That sets a bad tone for the day. Some days, I awake just a minute before the alarm is set to go off. But, I cannot depend on that.

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  3. Something wakes me up at 3am every night, then I fall asleep after a couple of hours and wake up again around 8am. No alarm involved. Wierd. And totally different from how it used to be when I used an alarm.

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  4. When I DID set an alarm, most days I was awake in anticipation of it. However, not all the time. So I couldn't risk doing without. Now that I'm not working, I almost never need to set an alarm. And when I do -- like yesterday for an 8:30 appointment -- I'm up most of the night for some reason!

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  5. Haven't set an alarm in many years.

    BTW, my bedside analog, electric Westclox is probably 40 years old.

    :-)

    -Andy

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  6. Replies
    1. Yes, in 2008. Starbucks #1 is just around the corner on the right.

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  7. I wake up every day between 5:15 & 5:30 with or without an alarm. My iPhone reminds me its 8:30 pm each day in other words reminds me to start preparation for bed. It then starts playing a soft tune at 5:20 am if I'm not already up. If I have this feature turned off I'm usually out of bed by 5:30.

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  8. It rare exception I can will myself to wake about any hour.
    I set an alarm but wake nearly always prior to its discharge.

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  9. i really likes your blog and You have shared the whole concept really well. and Very beautifully soulful read! thanks for sharing.
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