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?
there is no clock in my bedroom, nor do I wear a watch. "time is fleeting..."
ReplyDeletePS - and isn't seattle's pike place market FABU!
DeleteAM - yes - and it was fantastic.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteSomething 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.
ReplyDeleteWhen 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!
ReplyDeleteHaven't set an alarm in many years.
ReplyDeleteBTW, my bedside analog, electric Westclox is probably 40 years old.
:-)
-Andy
Is that seattle?
ReplyDeleteYes, in 2008. Starbucks #1 is just around the corner on the right.
Deletebeen there! :)
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteIt rare exception I can will myself to wake about any hour.
ReplyDeleteI set an alarm but wake nearly always prior to its discharge.
i really likes your blog and You have shared the whole concept really well. and Very beautifully soulful read! thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteตารางคะแนน