Nov
10
Alarm clocks are bad. How to wake up and feel better.
Posted under Lifehacks
You may remember I did a post about polyphasic sleep a week or two ago. I thought it was a bad idea. Here’s a tip that I think is a GOOD idea - at least to try if you are having trouble waking up feeling refreshed.
Vincent Cheung reveals his secret for waking up with a smile on his face. He sets up two alarm clocks instead of one. One is set so the volume is so low, that it will subtley wake you up if you are in the light sleep (desirable) instead of jarring you awake if you are in deep sleep (undesirable). The second alarm clock is your parachute. It is set at normal volume to wake you up no matter what type of sleep you are experiencing.
I think I’ll give it a whirl, how about you?
Link: Vincent Cheung: Alarm clocks are bad. How to wake up and feel better. .
Waking up abruptly by the sound of an alarm clock is an inherently unnatural thing to do. Sometimes you can wake up after 8 hours and feel like crap. Other times, you can wake up after 6 hours and feel completely rested. The problem lies in what you’re doing when you’re suddenly woken up from your slumber.
I use a very simple, safe, and free (as in beer) system that I think works quite well and is more natural than suddenly waking up to a buzzer. I don’t drink coffee. I don’t drink soda/pop/cola (regularly). I don’t need to use any sort of caffeine to stay awake. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor (yet) and while I’m an expert, it’s not in sleep. What I can say is that this has worked for me for the past 7 years and throughout university.
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Comments
This is funny. I just got an alarm clock a few weeks ago to do this very thing. . . It’s a really bright “sunrise” effect that takes about half an hour to come to full brightness. If that don’t wake you, it flashes. Or. . . It will start sounding the buzzer.
Works great for me. I’ve heard that when you hear a buzzer or alarm, you IMMEDIATELY release stress hormones. That must cause one to wake up on the wrong side of the bed often.
I’ve always been curious about those sunrise alarm clocks. So do you feel more refreshed in the mornings?
As I tried polyphasic sleeping several times, I learned to wake up before my alarm makes any sound. That’s so cool. :)
Yeah, waking up without an alarm clock is ideal. Takes some practice to get to that point.