Having a crying baby is like an alarm clock that wont switch off. What if cute-yet-very-loud-and-noisy baby had a snooze button? That would be a helpful thing for any parent to soothe their crying child quickly…
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Looking at the world laterally, but that’s beside the point ;-) read more »
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As mentioned in Life Hack #12, shocking your body into conciousness is not the best way to start the day.
Observe how long it takes from initially regaining conciousness to being fully awake, and adjust the alarm clock sound accordingly.
So if it takes five minutes to awake play a five minute audio track.
For example, in line with Life Hack #12 the audio track could be a farm yard. The track gradually increasing in volume, and possibly culminating with a cockerel crowing. A crowing cockerel is a natural noise acting as a fail-safe if there is a waking deadline. I find it is less stress producing than using artificial electronic sounds.
Classical music has also been found to be useful in this regard.
Whatever track is chosen it creates a smoother transition into conciousness, and thus a better start to the day than would otherwise be the case.
An alarm clock does the job. That’s why we use it. It’s purpose is to wake us up. However there is one rather large drawback from using it, as indicated by it’s name.
We awake in a state of alarm.
Not really an ideal start to any day – being shocked into conciousness. I’d also hazard a guess that we naturally rebel against this by hitting “snooze”, rolling over, and trying to recover the calmer state we have just been experiencing.
Is there’s a better way of waking up at a set time and not in a state of alarm? I think so.
Instead of using an alarming artificial sound, try using an audio track of birds singing (basically any natural background sounds) that slowly increase in volume over time. The soothing sounds eases you from a rested state into a refreshed one, ready to take on the day. Much more helpful than receiving an alarming shot of adrenaline into the bloodstream before the mental faculties are fully functioning, as is normally the case.
This can be combined with other techniques such as leaving the curtains open, so the natural morning light can assist also.
What is the difference between the alarm going off in the morning and getting out of bed? For me it is the snooze time in between.
When the alarm goes off I’m still semi-concious and hit the snooze button for extra repose. So the time set on the alarm to get up is not the actual time I arise.
How do I get up at the set time? I could set the alarm earlier, so that after snoozing I’d be up at the time planned. However this is interpreted by a freshly awoken brain as “useful time when I should actually still be asleep”, and consequently it feels it is owed extra slumber than the snooze button will give.
The optimal solution is to arise on the sound of the alarm, yet my freshly woken mind is convinced that the one hour for morning tasks (allocated before I went to bed) can be accomplished in just half, which leaves the other half hour for snooze time.
Coersion, threats, etc, have limited impact upon the awoken mind. The most significant impact I’ve found is to bed down earlier the night before, which significantly increases my chances of getting up on the alarm. So changing me over time from a night owl to an early bird.
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
“What does every man wish he had more of, but never knows when he has it?” says the Riddle.
“Sleep” replies the Answer.
I’ve come to think that battles of “Morning commute rush” and “Groggy afternoon malaise” are won the night before, particularly in the time I go to sleep. The earlier the bedtime, the less likely the following morning would seem like a rat race, or the afternoon turn into a sleep-deprived stupor.
It is said the sleep hours before midnight are worth double those after, and I’ve found this has some truth to it.
However, there is a counter force that resists earlier bedtimes. Long work hours means there’s no evening to be had. So watching a late movie tempts to improve the work-life balance. Thinking laterally though, the long work hours may be shortened if adequate sleep is obtained the night before – as the better productivity results.
So the more sleep, the more likely this vicious cycle will get a puncture.