Morning subconscious

[cdd]

I have slowly been tumbling to a disturbing fact. Let me explain my morning routine to you all.

1. Alarm rings 30m prior to wake-up time – I turn off that alarm.
2. Second alarm rings at the actual wake-up time – I get up.

Lately, though, I've noticed a frequent pattern of my mobile not actually ringing the first time, so I have missed my nice 30 minute snooze. All sorts of fiddling about with my alarm ensued; various dry runs (I couldn’t get the problem to occur in testing), replacing mobile phone software and so forth.

You may be seeing the direction of this anecdote. I noticed this morning that my mobile phone was right next to me in bed. In retrospect it has been next to me in bed every time the first alarm has failed. It definitely wasn’t there when I went to sleep, because the battery is always almost fully charged, and I charge my phone overnight.

There is only one logical conclusion to this story. This conclusion is that, at t-minus-30-minutes, my alarm rings, and I completely subconsciously get out of bed, wander across the room, notice it’s the first alarm, press Menu --> Dismiss Alarm, then climb back into bed, putting my phone next to me, practically instantly fall back to sleep, and entirely forget the whole experience.

This seems implausible but all the evidence points that way. Unless someone is carefully setting me up in order to mess with my mind, it’s a rather disturbing discovery. And it casts the usefulness of my 30m snooze routine into serious doubt.

What are your tricks for getting up in the morning? To snooze or not to snooze?

[lukey]

Well, I have noticed a similar phenomenon, in that I very occassionally will find myself waking up some hour or so after my alarm was meant to go off, KNOWING that it was definitely set the night before - clearly having woken up, switched it off, gone to sleep and committed nothing to memory.

I have no real snoozing routine. Sometimes I can hear the alarm and just leap into the shower, other days I spend the best part of an hour getting increasingly prepared to leave bed in nine-minutely intervals. Although lately I have taken to waking up ten minutes before my alarm, which affords me a FABULOUS FREE snooze!

[rts]

We often wake up a few times in the night and have no recollection. But when I stir an hour or so before the alarm goes off, I usually remember this.

Horizon has a programme on at 9pm tonight about our Body Clocks. This could be worth a watch, Chris.

Or, just don't drink so much

[Chie]

I used to have the same problem of switching the alarm off in my sleep. I tried putting the phone on the other side of the room, on top of the wardrobe, and even in the ceiling uplighter so I had to climb on a chair to switch it off. I still managed to circumvent all of these obstacles in my sleep though!

Now I just don't have an alarm anymore, there's no point.

[rts]

Very interesting, that Horizon programme last night.

I'm considering getting a light box which gradually comes on to wake me up in the morning.

Some in town had my alarm clock sound as their ringtone. I was in horror!

[Gavin Scott]

Very interesting, that Horizon programme last night.

I'm considering getting a light box which gradually comes on to wake me up in the morning.

Some in town had my alarm clock sound as their ringtone. I was in horror!

Save some money and sleep with your curtains open, Row. That's what I do.

Not terribly helpful in the winter, but in the summer I'm wide awake for the alarm going off.

I was told once that lack of sleep is cumulative - but after a couple of decades of losing one or two nights of sleep a week (more accurately the weekends) I find this probably not to be the case.

[Stuart*]

I’ve also known this phenomenon, where I’ve carefully set the alarm on my mobile yet woken up late with said alarm nicely snuggled next to my head between the pillow and the quilt. The ‘snooze’ function was active, yet I subconsciously managed to turn it off enough times for it to expire.

Now I just don't have an alarm anymore, there's no point.

You don’t get up until 6pm, Chie. Why do you need an alarm of any sort? Does hunger not draw you into the ‘land-of-the-living’ ?

Save some money and sleep with your curtains open, Row. That's what I do.

I don’t think the prospect of being prosecuted for exhibitionism during the hot summer months (when you may be caught by a voyeur ‘sans-quilt’) is the sensible solution to neglecting one’s alarm!

I’m sure the answer isn’t multiple alarms. If you can subconsciously switch off one, then you can switch them all off. Apart from an awake partner who can remove you from your pit, the only other answer is an early night!

[Gavin Scott]

I don’t think the prospect of being prosecuted for exhibitionism during the hot summer months (when you may be caught by a voyeur ‘sans-quilt’) is the sensible solution to neglecting one’s alarm!

I hate to tread on your little tableau vivant, Stuart, but come the morning there's more light outside than there is inside - so no one can see in unless I switch the light on.

And even though you dismissed my suggestion *completely* I was quite serious. I often feel wretched on dark mornings, and letting the daylight slowly rouse me works wonders. Light boxes work - but its worth bearing in mind they're designed to mimic the sunlight waking you. So if you can use sunlight its a no-brainer.

I’m sure the answer isn’t multiple alarms. If you can subconsciously switch off one, then you can switch them all off.

Can't agree with that either. I have my mobile and a bedside alarm clock. Recently, (in the dark mornings of deep slumber), I've woken to find myself trying to press snooze on the wrong device. The confusion snaps me awake.

[Chie]

Now I just don't have an alarm anymore, there's no point.

You don’t get up until 6pm, Chie. Why do you need an alarm of any sort? Does hunger not draw you into the ‘land-of-the-living’ ?

It's varies these days, sometimes I fall asleep at 6pm and get up and 6am. Although I must say I loathe waking up at the crack of dawn on a bright sunny day, it really puts me in a mood :roll: Then sometimes it's the opposite way round and I do get up at 6pm. I always get at least 12 hours sleep though, regardless of when I go to sleep or wake up because a piffling 8 hours just isn't enough, plus lack of sleep exasperates my memory problems as well.

[lukey]

Now I just don't have an alarm anymore, there's no point.

You don’t get up until 6pm, Chie. Why do you need an alarm of any sort? Does hunger not draw you into the ‘land-of-the-living’ ?

It's varies these days, sometimes I fall asleep at 6pm and get up and 6am. Although I must say I loathe waking up at the crack of dawn on a bright sunny day, it really puts me in a mood :roll: Then sometimes it's the opposite way round and I do get up at 6pm. I always get at least 12 hours sleep though, regardless of when I go to sleep or wake up because a piffling 8 hours just isn't enough, plus lack of sleep exasperates my memory problems as well.

Is this why you generally forget to be tolerable?

[Sput]

You might be onto something there. At the very least it makes him forget the difference between "exasparate" and "exacerbate"