Alarm clocks for how to#

I was annoyed to hear yet another cry for limiting screen time before bed when I was trying to make my sleep schedule predictable. Focus on listening to your internal body clock rather than generalized productivity culture mantras. Ditch your 'best-self morning persona' because it isn't doing you any good. But I soon realized that the most significant predictor of my productivity wasn't what time I woke up but whether or not I got enough sleep.Īll the sleep science supports this sentiment. So when the first few weeks I was waking up past 10 a.m., the guilt of letting my precious morning slip by was massive. club-exercise, meditate, and journal-all before the clock hits 9. My goal was to enter the exclusive 5 a.m. Look at what my alarm clock used to look like before this experiment: I'll admit it: I wanted an enviable morning routine. If you're thinking of experimenting with going alarm-free, here are the things I learned from the four-month experiment.

Alarm clocks for how to#

How to prepare for throwing away the alarm clock On the days when I had a lot on my plate (and my mind), I'd wake up earlier than expected.Įither way, whenever I woke up, I was fresh and productive. On the workout days, I'd hit the hay for longer (at least nine hours). I started doing intensive HIIT workouts in November, along with planning my brother's wedding. I traced it back to a change in my exercise routine and increased stress levels. Some days, I woke up at my usual 8–9 a.m., but there were days I wouldn't open my eyes before 10:30 a.m. I was a bit off my bedtime range for a few days of the week, but the effect was spread out even on the days I went to bed on time. Toward the end of 2022, I noticed my sleep schedule getting rocky again. I was stoked…until I hit a slight bump again. At this stage, I also started noticing benefits like a happier mood, better focus, and increased energy. I noticed on most days, I need around 8.5 hours of sleep to function at my best. I started sticking to a two-hour fixed bedtime window, and the wake-up times got predictable. Two months in, I had set a solid footing. But I thought I'd stick it out for another 20 days or so-and that's when the magic happened. This uncertainty about my day discouraged me, and I wanted to abandon the experiment altogether. The haphazard bedtime significantly affected the time I woke up. It didn't help that I didn't have a fixed sleeping time: I'd go to sleep around midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. I'd turn the alarm off for the days I didn't have much work pending-which were mostly Thursdays and Fridays since I frontload my weeks-and on the weekends.įor the first month, things were erratic. I dipped my toes into the no-alarm club slowly. Turns out: my anxiety was on point (and so was my fellow freelancer friend, Marijana). Thanks for the inspiration 💪- Rochi Zalani September 23, 2021 My biggest worry? Sleeping till noon and getting no work done. I'd been considering it since September 2021 and finally got the courage to do it a whole year later. I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to stop using an alarm clock. My experiment with abandoning the alarm clock

Study after study has confirmed that alarms may hamper your sleep cycle and wake you up from deep or REM sleep-which results in low mood and lackluster performance.Īll the science told me that my relationship with the alarm clock was a toxic one. It's not just unpleasant but harmful to your health: excessive amounts of social jetlag is linked to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Your body wants to sleep in on a Monday morning (because you got to bed late on Sunday), but the 9 a.m. Social jetlag is the inconsistency between your body clock and social obligations. But I'd also done some research and realized I was doing myself a disservice by waking up to the jolt of an alarm clock.

Being self-employed and childless allowed me to dictate my own schedule and drop any morning obligations.

So why did I decide to abandon my alarm? The short answer: because I could. How an alarm clock does more harm than good The goal is to find a way to listen to your body-whether with an alarm or without one. My intent with this piece is to help you work with your circadian rhythm and lifestyle. I recognize abandoning alarm clocks is a huge privilege that's not available to everyone-shift workers who need to show up at their office on time, employees with early-morning meetings, and parents who have their own built-in alarms. Until September 2022-after which I went alarm-free.