Remove your alarm safety net and fix your sleep | Hacker News Reader

Remove your alarm safety net and fix your sleep

natewienert.com

40 pointsnwienert45 comments

I didn't used to know people used snooze at all - it always seems so futile - you have two options (at least in my mind);

alarm @ 8:00 --> get up at 8:00

alarm @ 7:45 + snooze --> painfully lose 15 minutes of good quality sleep and hate every second of it.

Why is that even a thing?

I have gotten to the point where the alarm going off and me hitting snooze actually integrates itself into my dreams such that I don't even realize I'm doing it until after I wake up.

Perhaps you're not like this, but I am: It's the best feeling in the world to go back to sleep. When I'm asleep I'm just sleeping; when I hit snooze, though, I get 30 seconds of "awwww yeeahhhhhhhhhhhh..."

I don't use an alarm anymore because my sleep is so consistent and I don't have a morning role call, but when I did, it was awesome to be able to settle back in.

i set my alarm to snooze for 30 to 45 minutes, well really two 5 minute alarms 30 to 45 minutes apart. Without a first alarm I will sleep through the actual alarm every time.

The sleep you get while you're "snoozing" is sleep that you're awake enough to enjoy. At least for me, anyway.

A paradox well-stated.

Yeah. It's almost like a drug.

So true. I didn't even know why I used snooze until now. I actually password-protected my tablet with a very long password so I wouldn't use snooze, but I still did; I had to get to it!

Hell yes. This is where all my ideas and inspiration come from. Its a place where lucidity is common. I actually keep a notepad and pen next to me in case so I don't forget it if its interesting when or wake up.

Better than anything mind bending and more healthy too.

Such a great comment. You've improved my life.

This is why I use a radio alarm clock. I don't turn it off, because it isn't annoying, but it is harder to go back to sleep when there are human voices my brain starts paying attention to.

One trick I found with this is that some sort of "talk" radio, i.e. NPR, is a lot better than music. With music, I can sort of "background task" it, while processing talking requires some conscious effort.

Here's a bad idea: set your alarm clock to the classical music station.

I did this for a while, but I found out that listening to the radio in bed was pleasant, and I really wasn't incentivised to get up.

Sleepy, waking-up me is not rational and wants to go back to sleep. Alarm's purpose is to wake up enough of rational me to make this happen. Optimally more-rested me would be more rational. Realistically, longer period of time dealing with annoying noise wakes me up more.

Going to see if I can get myself off the snooze cycle starting tonight.

Same here, I don't think I've ever actually used snooze.

I'd like to point out something helpful here because it seems that the majority of the comments in this thread are from people with a combination of any or all of the following:

a) In their 20's

b) Stay up late (because you can)

c) No kids

d) Not married

e) In general, less stresses and responsibilities in life

So here it is. Sleep, and the management of sleep is probably the most important thing you will ever have to tackle and manage in your life. As you get older (and I'll leave it up to you as far as the definition of "older") you will find it increasingly difficult to have good sleep for a wide variety of reasons, such as:

- Your kids, regardless of whether they are older or if babies or toddlers and their demands and schedule.

- Your spouse, their schedule and what responsibilities each of you have (especially relative to your kids)

- Your spouse and how they want you to spend your time (it is no longer all about you. - oh by the way once you have kids the deal changes with spouses many times lest you think the divorce rate comes from people who knew they shouldn't have gotten married).

- Health

- The fact that as you get older it becomes naturally harder to get good sleep.

My point is very simple. Start thinking now, before you get married, before you have kids, before you overextend yourself on the vacation home and other expenses (that you haven't even begun to think about) how your sleep will be impacted by those choices you make.

The good news is it can be done. But it takes effort to structure things before you go down a path that can't be reversed.

I have always found getting out of bed early to an alarm painful, and would often snooze my alarm long enough to skip morning classes in college.

Now I work with no fixed schedule, and I don't set an alarm at all. I find that I naturally wake up early and feel well rested. My theory is that waking up for an alarm would often wake me up in the middle of a sleep cycle, whereas waking up naturally I get up after a cycle ends.

I have this cool Android app "I can't wake up", which I can only turn off by scanning a bar code in my bathroom. It works very well; before I had problems with snoozing, and if I don't set my alarm at all I consistently fall asleep again after I first wake up. I have simply become addicted to the dreams I have in this light sleep, so my rational thinking is completely overriden.

Does it prevent you from switching off your phone completely?

Something that helped improve my mornings was using a light.

I brought a 6400k 5000 lux lamp for my bedside table. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001IPP2D6/) I have it pointed right at my face and connected to a timer plug which switches it on 15 minutes before my alarm goes off.

Now, most mornings I'm already more or less awake when my alarm goes off, and I'm ready to just get up. I've found the light wakes me gently without the sudden jarring I get with an alarm. It's not unpleasant so there is no desire to quickly turn the light off like there is with an alarm, but it's also hard to stay asleep for long, so it gets you past the groggy stage where you convince yourself you just need a few more minutes.

I also have F.lux (http://stereopsis.com/flux/) on all my home PCs to help the light cycle at the other end of the day.

This is an interesting idea, I'm going to have to experiment with this to see if I can get that effect.

Personal experience is always subjective. I've found that trying to wake from a deep sleep directly will make me groggy all day. Conversely giving myself another 15min of light sleep will clear my head.

I have had the same experience. This year in college I had 8 am class M-F and its really nice to be able to set my alarm for 7 and get up every single time. I've only overslept and skipped my morning shower once. Compared to past years, this is a complete change and I actually like it.

I have weaned myself off alarms.

Fuck alarms. Go to bed on time. That's the new alarm.

I find I still wake up at the exact same time every day. 7AM.

Still single and/or like to go out? Pick your battles.

I agree. The best thing I have ever done was get a job without a set schedule. Turning off the damn alarm is awesome.

The funny thing is, a couple months after I dumped my alarm, I started getting up early on my own. Now, I am up well before I used to get up with an alarm, and I don't feel like shit all morning.

I used to have terrible sleep problems. Insomnia, restless sleep, etc. I changed two things. No caffeine. No alarm clock.

I sleep amazingly well. I'm rested every morning and I wake up at the same time everyday.

I think this argument really depends on how much sleep you're getting/missing-- not just for that night but over an extended period of time. As a student, I didn't just use snooze-- I actually set 3 or 4 separate alarms in addition to having snooze enabled on every alarm. The reason for this being that I wouldn't even hear the first alarm and would often unconsciously hit the snooze button without knowing it. At one point I had up to 4 different alarm times with different ringtones, volumes, and snooze durations using both my smartphone and a regular alarm clock! And I remember still not waking up for a few classes during long periods of sleep deprivation.

After graduating this year. I started sleeping on a regular schedule. I consistently slept from 2am - 11am (9 hours) for over two months and now I can get up each morning at 9am using one alarm, and automatically 9:30am-10am without an alarm at all.

The thing I'm most jealous of in this article are the times.

Mine is set at 5:45 and not too long ago, 4:45.

These times let you squeeze in some early morning progress before the kids get up. Most of the time.

Small child wakes me up between 7:15 - 7:30 very reliably!

My 2-year old wakes us up between 6:15 and 7:30 every day, so he's not reliable. I think I'm going to need a better alarm clock.

Unfortunately, the later he goes to bed, the earlier he wakes up. How messed up is that?

I have a day job like the OP and I love making apps by night. I usually end up working late into the night until 3am almost everyday and then wakeup by 7:45 early in the morning. Somedays I get more sleep if I dont feel like working. (I dont push myself, I only work when I really want to)

I would love to do what the OP does and go for an early morning jog/run/swim.

If you are in the same boat, what advice do you have for someone like me?

As a longtime chronic insomniac: don't screw around and take your sleep for granted. It sounds like you are seriously sleep-depriving yourself. Take it as seriously as proper exercise and nutrition. If you make apps, your mind being sharp is critical. An athlete wouldn't pig out on junk food and avoid exercise would they?

I'm following a series of exercise videos, which I try to do first thing after arriving home from work in the evening. Find a routine that suits you. Don't feel guilty if Random Joe Blogger's routine doesn't suit your situation. If you are blessed with great sleep: seize it with both hands!

Find out how many hours you sleep before you wake up naturally. Go to bed at an hour where you wake up at the right time without an alarm clock.

I can sleep really long, if I don't limit it. I can't sleep every day at 17:00 o'clock :)

That doesn't work for people with regular jobs and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-24-hour_sleep-wake_disorder or non-chronic similar symptoms.

So that's what it's called. For longest time people just told me to go to sleep earlier. Other people told me my sleep schedule would stabilize after college (when I stop depriving myself of sleep). Four months graduated and I still wake up later everyday. It's good I found a job where I can go at any time of day. No longer sleepy and I can exercise a lot better.

Not needing an alarm clock anymore is really nice.

It's too bad, my favourite time to wake up is 2 a.m. I'd do that everyday if I could only fall asleep around 4-6 p.m. everyday.

Now if only the number of hours I sleep when uninterrupted didn't vary by +/- 2 hours.

I used to be firmly in the snooze lover camp, but I recently started trying to get back in shape so needed to be up early. However, instead of getting up later but with less snooze I'd get up at the same early time and force my mind awake before exercising. Seems to work very well for me, but possibly not for everyone.

Put it on the other side of the room so you have to physically get out of bed to do anything to it.

All that does is teach you how to get out of bed, cross the room, and turn off your alarm clock without waking up.

I've found that moving my alarm clock from the nightstand to my dresser has made all the difference.

http://sleepyti.me/

tldr: Snooze is bad. Just get up when it goes off.

More like: Turn off snooze, set alarm to exact time you need. Then eventually set it earlier.

But yes, thats just about it. Plus a bunch of personal anecdotes.

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