4 ms·

Just get rid of your alarm clock, and wake up when your body tells you to.

sodiumphosphate 15y ago
Sure, that's the best way, but most people cannot do it; they risk being late for work, or in my case, getting the kids to school. (Actually, to be honest, my only risk is in not having as much time as I'd like before the kids wake up.) A good second choice seems to be using something like 'Sleep Cycle' for iPhone, or one of these fancy new wristband accelerometer gizmos. I've had good success with Sleep Cycle, myself.
- hornbaker 15y ago
  > I've had good success with Sleep Cycle, myself. I'm really liking the Sleep Cycle app, too. Works great, simple, best 99 cents I've spent. Prior to it, I had the $69 WakeMate wristband, but never warmed up to it – it was uncomfortable, and a pain to set and keep charged.
joering2 15y ago
hm, sorry to ask, but: are you employed? most folks I know, including me, have serious problems with sleep. it seems like we tap into each corner of human body and understand less or more how it works, but yet there is no real science behind how sleep works and how much of it we need. Heck, afaik scientists still argue why we need sleep at all and whats the main reasoning behind it. But not to brag too much: sometimes it happens to me that I sleep less hours and am more refreshed than sleeping longer, or even legit 7 or 8. I guess I just hit the right spot at the right time and REM phases worked out. If someone comes up with a device that can help you sleep not too long not to short so you always wake up fresh, I think he/she will nail a billion dollar idea!
- recursive 15y ago
  I'm employed. I don't use alarms. I just go to bed early enough so that I'll naturally want to wake up in time for work.
  - joering2 15y ago
    so you should say that. this: > Just get rid of your alarm clock, and wake up when your body tells you to. means you are telling me and everyone else to get a rid of your [mine] alarm clock. Guess not everyones body acts the same, right?
- pnathan 15y ago
  I've found if I go to bed early enough and focus on rising at the same time every day (this includes weekends), after a few weeks, I will begin waking up at that time. It's nice to have an alarm, but waking before the alarm is exceedingly restful.
- rokhayakebe 15y ago
  I am. Actionable item: set your alarm 15 minutes later than you would normally wake up, go to sleep 15 minutes earlier than you normally do. If you do not wake up before the alarm, then leave it as is, and go to sleep 25 minutes earlier the following day. I am a firm believer your body is awake before your alarm rings.
japhyr 15y ago
I tried this for one semester in college, and never went back to an alarm clock. I decided to face the risk of missing classes, exams, meetings, etc. The result? I got up 1-2 hours earlier most days than I did with an alarm clock. I have been living without an alarm clock for 20 years now; in that time I have overslept maybe 5 times, and on those occasions it was pretty clear that my body was fighting off sickness and really needed the sleep. The only time I use an alarm is if I need to get up at 3:45 am to catch a 6am flight. Alarm clocks are a terrible habit. They wake us up with no regard to where we are in our sleep cycles. When I used an alarm, I used to wake up and go back to sleep until the alarm went off. Then I would hit the snooze button forever. With no alarm, I just get up the first time I wake up in the morning. I almost always wake up at the end of a good sleep cycle. Getting rid of my alarm clock decreased my overall amount of sleep but greatly increased the quality of my sleep.
- lucaspiller 15y ago
  That sounds pretty cool, I'll give it a try!
- freehunter 15y ago
  I tried this, and I ran into a lot of difficulties. First, I assumed that I could go to bed whenever I wanted and I would wake up on time no matter what. This was not the case. Other times I would wake up on time but go back to sleep. And sometimes I just never woke up on time at all. This approach works for many (my grandfather used this his whole working life, but not for me, sadly.
  - japhyr 15y ago
    Not setting an alarm made me more conscious of my decisions around sleep. If I had to get up at 5:15 for rowing practice, and I had an alarm set, I stayed up as long as I wanted and told myself the alarm would wake me up. When I got rid of the alarm clock, I could no longer fool myself, so I started keeping a more reasonable schedule. The other thing that helped at first was repeating in my mind, in a relaxed way, what time I wanted to wake up. I found I'd wake up within a few minutes of the time I wanted to wake up, consistently. Our brains keep track of time, and to some degree it seems we can tap into that.
wccrawford 15y ago
I have an alarm clock, but it's only for emergencies. For a long time, I used to wake up about 2 minutes before the alarm. Every single morning. Lately, though, I've been waking up 20-60 minutes early. I just shrug and decide whether I feel like I need the extra time, or if I should do something with it. I usually get up and do something.

Sure, that's the best way, but most people cannot do it; they risk being late for work, or in my case, getting the kids to school. (Actually, to be honest, my only risk is in not having as much time as I'd like before the kids wake up.) A good second choice seems to be using something like 'Sleep Cycle' for iPhone, or one of these fancy new wristband accelerometer gizmos. I've had good success with Sleep Cycle, myself.

hornbaker 15y ago
> I've had good success with Sleep Cycle, myself. I'm really liking the Sleep Cycle app, too. Works great, simple, best 99 cents I've spent. Prior to it, I had the $69 WakeMate wristband, but never warmed up to it – it was uncomfortable, and a pain to set and keep charged.

joering2 15y ago

hm, sorry to ask, but: are you employed? most folks I know, including me, have serious problems with sleep. it seems like we tap into each corner of human body and understand less or more how it works, but yet there is no real science behind how sleep works and how much of it we need. Heck, afaik scientists still argue why we need sleep at all and whats the main reasoning behind it. But not to brag too much: sometimes it happens to me that I sleep less hours and am more refreshed than sleeping longer, or even legit 7 or 8. I guess I just hit the right spot at the right time and REM phases worked out. If someone comes up with a device that can help you sleep not too long not to short so you always wake up fresh, I think he/she will nail a billion dollar idea!

recursive 15y ago
I'm employed. I don't use alarms. I just go to bed early enough so that I'll naturally want to wake up in time for work.
- joering2 15y ago
  so you should say that. this: > Just get rid of your alarm clock, and wake up when your body tells you to. means you are telling me and everyone else to get a rid of your [mine] alarm clock. Guess not everyones body acts the same, right?
pnathan 15y ago
I've found if I go to bed early enough and focus on rising at the same time every day (this includes weekends), after a few weeks, I will begin waking up at that time. It's nice to have an alarm, but waking before the alarm is exceedingly restful.
rokhayakebe 15y ago
I am. Actionable item: set your alarm 15 minutes later than you would normally wake up, go to sleep 15 minutes earlier than you normally do. If you do not wake up before the alarm, then leave it as is, and go to sleep 25 minutes earlier the following day. I am a firm believer your body is awake before your alarm rings.

japhyr 15y ago

I tried this for one semester in college, and never went back to an alarm clock. I decided to face the risk of missing classes, exams, meetings, etc. The result? I got up 1-2 hours earlier most days than I did with an alarm clock. I have been living without an alarm clock for 20 years now; in that time I have overslept maybe 5 times, and on those occasions it was pretty clear that my body was fighting off sickness and really needed the sleep. The only time I use an alarm is if I need to get up at 3:45 am to catch a 6am flight. Alarm clocks are a terrible habit. They wake us up with no regard to where we are in our sleep cycles. When I used an alarm, I used to wake up and go back to sleep until the alarm went off. Then I would hit the snooze button forever. With no alarm, I just get up the first time I wake up in the morning. I almost always wake up at the end of a good sleep cycle. Getting rid of my alarm clock decreased my overall amount of sleep but greatly increased the quality of my sleep.

lucaspiller 15y ago
That sounds pretty cool, I'll give it a try!
freehunter 15y ago
I tried this, and I ran into a lot of difficulties. First, I assumed that I could go to bed whenever I wanted and I would wake up on time no matter what. This was not the case. Other times I would wake up on time but go back to sleep. And sometimes I just never woke up on time at all. This approach works for many (my grandfather used this his whole working life, but not for me, sadly.
- japhyr 15y ago
  Not setting an alarm made me more conscious of my decisions around sleep. If I had to get up at 5:15 for rowing practice, and I had an alarm set, I stayed up as long as I wanted and told myself the alarm would wake me up. When I got rid of the alarm clock, I could no longer fool myself, so I started keeping a more reasonable schedule. The other thing that helped at first was repeating in my mind, in a relaxed way, what time I wanted to wake up. I found I'd wake up within a few minutes of the time I wanted to wake up, consistently. Our brains keep track of time, and to some degree it seems we can tap into that.

wccrawford 15y ago

I have an alarm clock, but it's only for emergencies. For a long time, I used to wake up about 2 minutes before the alarm. Every single morning. Lately, though, I've been waking up 20-60 minutes early. I just shrug and decide whether I feel like I need the extra time, or if I should do something with it. I usually get up and do something.