Alarm Clock: Friend or Enemy?

Alarm clocks, the dreaded sound in the morning, at least that was the case for me during my teenage years, and in fact it still is today. 

Are they good? Are they bad? That snooze function..... Is there an alarm clock I would recommend? Let's take a look at it!

The thing with alarm clocks is of course they help you wake up. The question is whether it has a positive or negative effect when the alarm clock wakes you up. waking up and sleeping are both a process.

So you have deep sleep, light sleep, brake sleep and you are awake. The small trajectory from light sleep to wakefulness is short, causing you to wake up refreshed after light sleep or from light sleep. The stretch from deep sleep to waking is longer and causes you to wake up super groggy and super dazed. Being awakened from deep sleep can feel pretty intense.

If you are overtired or if you went on too long the night before so that you are still in the deep sleep phase when your alarm clock snaps you out of your sleep, you have to understand that an alarm clock is primarily an alarm and therefore you get a rush of adrenaline and cortisol. So your alarm clock actually causes you to shoot into a kind of crisis mode which causes your hormones to race through your body.

That's intense because you were just napping. When you are full of hormones at first and then not anymore you get a tired feeling from that. It's no fun going through that! If you hear the alarm clock go off from a light sleep and you wake up it will feel pretty okay. It doesn't feel bad at all. You can lend a hand to this process by consistently going to bed on time and by falling asleep and waking up at the same time every day.

Regular sleep is the solution! If you know how much sleep you need and you actually wake up at the same time as your alarm clock, the sound of your alarm clock can even make you feel safe. If you know how much sleep you need you will wake up on your own. Even if you wake up at the same time every day your body will get used to it to some extent. 

If you have to push yourself to do that every time and you don't get enough sleep then it won't happen by itself. That's why you have to make sure that you get enough sleep and that you wake up by the same time every time.

The snooze button..... I recommend not using it at all. Because if you have woken up again after falling asleep briefly you will find that you wake up very tired. Suppose you were in a deep sleep and you press the snooze button; chances are pretty good that you will fall back into that deep sleep until you are rudely awakened from your sleep. 

But it can also happen that you were in a light sleep and you didn't actually feel that bad, you pressed the snooze button and you fell back asleep, maybe even in dream mode and then you wake up even more tired than the first time. So that's why don't use a snooze button!

Get out of bed immediately the first time. Turn on the light. Let your eyes get used to light. I know you shouldn't actually start checking your messages right away but the light from your iPhone will help you wake up. So then maybe no messages but instead a motivating morning text. Try to find something fun and motivating that doesn't stress you out. That can help.

When it comes to what kind of alarm clocks I personally like, I would say that I do like those alarm clocks that simulate natural light. I'm really convinced that those work. Our eyes respond to it. Our skin reacts to it. It releases hormones that will help us wake up naturally.

It starts with a very quiet light that gets stronger and stronger, stimulating a sunrise. I had that during my teenage years in high school and it really helped me wake up less moody and sleep-deprived, especially during classes.

There are not that many different types of those alarm clocks for sale. I could only find a few on Amazon. Maybe they are not the best but I think they are the quietest and the most natural. I just like them so much and I highly recommend these.

There are some fun alarm clocks like that alarm clock that runs away from you and you have to chase it, an alarm clock that you have to be on for a certain amount of time or the one where you have to do a mathematical calculation to turn it off. Plenty of choice..... Personally, I don't have much of a sense of humor in the morning and don't like to talk until I have my coffee. I would demolish that math clock right away! That one just wouldn't survive that long with me, but hey, if you do have a sense of humor and want to solve sums first thing in the morning you can try that one out!

So this is how I think about alarm clocks. Why they work, how they work, how to work with them, how to use them to wake up fresh and fruity in the morning.

I'll talk to you again soon.