I Ditched My Alarm Clock 3 Months Ago – This Is What Happened
I must’ve started using an alarm clock in elementary school to make sure I was up for school on time, and ever since, I haven’t stopped (despite the fact that I became a full-time entrepreneur earlier this February 2019 and create my own rules and schedule).
There are many things I like about waking up with an alarm clock; I love being up early before everyone else and I love being able to get the most out of my day. What I don’t love, is being jolted by the sound of an alarm first thing in the morning and having a constant snooze battle with my alarm clock. And while, some days are better than others (i.e. somedays I can leap right out of bed), I started questioning why I was continuing to be a slave to the alarm when I had created this life for myself of freedom and liberties that didn’t require an alarm – and so, 90 days ago, I began my quest to go alarm-free in my life.
Privilege Disclosure
I totally own the fact that to live a life free of an alarm is a privilege, and an option that might not be available to everyone, especially shift workers who require an alarm to be at work on time and parents who have kids as their built-in alarms. My intent in sharing this is to inspire you to find a way of waking up that both works for you and your lifestyle, and helps you to feel awesome and work with your circadian rhythm, and I’ll be sharing some strategies and recommendations how you can do so.
Why I Decided To Go Alarm-Free
I kind of hinted at this already, but essentially, ever since I’ve embarked on my Intuitive Living journey for the past year and some (which, essentially means, living more aligned and true-to-me in the decisions and choices I make), I’ve narrowed in on the areas where I was doing things because I felt like I “should” and the areas where I was living outside of my intuitive desires and asked myself if there was an opportunity to live a little more true to me. My alarm clock was one of those things.
Most alarm clocks work against your natural body clock and pull you out of sleep, despite your naturally produced melatonin and cortisol levels not being at the level they need to be to wake you up naturally. This is why you might feel groggy when you wake up, and find yourself constantly snoozing your alarm clock. It can also contribute to high stress levels (as it gets your adrenaline pumping first thing), high blood pressure and a high heart rate – first thing in the morning.
Personally, I was tired of playing the snooze battle with my alarm clock and feeling obligated to be somewhere (especially considering the fact that I’ve created a life for myself that really allows me to structure my days in a way that works for me). I had already been working on implementing some healthy sleep habits, and I wanted to take this next step on my intuitive living journey and explore what it could feel like to wake up when my body naturally wanted it to; just like how I trust myself and my body to eat intuitively and gravitate towards foods that make me feel good.
Now, again, if an alarm clock is necessary for your lifestyle, there are still many things you can do to lessen these negative effects. But given that I had the opportunity to experiment with going alarm clock-free and learning to work with, rather than against, my body’s natural clock and systems, I took the plunge – and it doesn’t look like I’ll be turning back any time soon.
Benefits of Going Alarm-Free
There are many benefits to going alarm-free. I mean, not being jolted by an erratic sound first thing upon barely opening your eyes, but here are a few more benefits you can enjoy:
Working with your circadian rhythm, rather than against, resulting in feeling more rested upon waking
Improved clarity in your daily life
Improved ability to regulate self around food (knowing that lack of sleep contributes to higher secretions of ghrelin, the appetite hormone, and a reduction in leptin, the satiety hormone).
Lower stress levels and improved ability to cope with stress
Feeling more calm and peaceful throughout the day
What Going Alarm Clock-Free Has Looked Like For me
I’ll be honest, I was really nervous to go alarm clock-free at first. My partner, Joel, was nudging me to do it for quite some time (he’s 12 years into being an entrepreneur and hasn’t lived with an alarm clock since), but I had this belief that if I didn’t wake up with an alarm clock, I would sleep in until 11am and lose half my day.
I woke up around the same time that I would set my alarm clock for
Much to my surprise, in my first week or so of going alarm clock-free, I continued to wake up in and around the same time I set my alarm for anyway (surprise, surprise!). I would usually set my alarm for 8:15am, and without an alarm, I would end up waking up sometimes at 8am, other days at 8:30am or 8:45am.
The latest I’ve slept so far is 9:44am and I remember that time exactly because I remember seeing it and feeling a RUSH of guilt, thinking I’d slept in too late and wasted a lot of the work day. I then had to remind myself, what I constantly remind my Intuitive Way For Eating clients of, which is to respond to myself with the utmost compassion.
And, the thing is, I always felt way better just to sleep that extra hour or so, as opposed to forcing myself to wake up earlier and being hit with fatigue or a headache later in the day.
There are certain patterns I’ve noticed that contribute to me sleeping later, such as staying up later, disrupted sleep in the night, taking natural sleep supplement aids and smoking marijuana (this is more of a new thing for me, and not a nightly habit, but something I’ll do from time to time if my brain is super busy). Knowing these factors contribute to me sleeping in later, I’ve tried to narrow in on them even more to prevent sleeping in late (specifically on weekdays when I’m excited to get things done!)
I’ve had SO much more clarity, energy and calmness in my day
After just 2 weeks, I was feeling SO good. I had way more energy and clarity in the day, and felt so much more in alignment.
A cool, unexpected thing that happened was that I started to live my days with more flow, ease and harmony. I wasn’t forcing things that didn’t feel good or weren’t working. For example, in the past, if I had a deadline for a blog post for myself, I would’ve forced myself to get it done by the given date. But when this new alarm clock-free Rach found herself struggling to get through a task, I would just start working on something else and revisit the other task when I was in the mood for it.
It’s benefited other aspects of my life and business so much
That’s exactly how my Podcast 101 guide was brought to life (and now I’m going to go on a quick tangent). It was a Wednesday and I had just announced that The Fill Your Cup Podcast just reached 100,000 downloads. Following that, came tons of messages and questions revolving around podcasting. In the past, I would’ve picked up the phone and gabbed with passionate future podcasters and share what I’ve learned. But something hit me that day, and I realized I could put everything I know into this one guide and sell it for an affordable price. I was SO excited to start working on it.
Even though I had a list of other more urgent items to be working on, I put my energy towards Podcast 101 because, from my years of working for myself and creating content, I know that that kind of inspiration is special – so when it comes, you best take advantage of it. As a result, I pumped out the whole copy deck for Podcast 101, designed it, produced it and prepped it for marketing in a matter of TWO days. I sold 80+ copies in a 48 hour period and it’s now helped several people kickstart their podcasting journey.
Why the tangent? Because I want to show you that all of these little actions to live a little more intuitively – be it going alarm clock-free, or embarking on your intuitive eating journey – matter.
It’s not just about ditching your alarm clock and honouring your unique food preferences – it’s about choosing you, coming back to you, coming back to what your unique body wants and needs to thrive and honouring that.
If we all did a little bit more of that, maybe our bodies wouldn’t be screaming at us in the form of various symptoms, or hunger cues, or food cravings.
And so, I understand that going alarm clock-free isn’t an option that’s available to everyone. But, now knowing the benefits and what it can feel like to live more in harmony in your life, I wanted to share some suggestions for you, reading this, to help you go alarm clock-free in your life or find your own happy medium.
How To Go Alarm Clock-Free: Full-Time
If you have the flexibility and opportunity to go 100% alarm clock-free in your life, these are my recommendations for you:
Avoid Technology: Try to avoid technology at least 30 minutes before bed. If you are engaging in technology, consider wearing some blue-light blockers (I have these KLASSY “Worthy” blue light blockers in the colour Tortoise).
Go to bed at the same time: Get into bed and aim to fall asleep somewhat around the same time each night.
Pre-Bed Routine: Read a book, do a meditation or journal to prepare for a restful sleep (optional, but recommended if it helps you ~20-30 mins before bed).
Blinds: I actually find complete blackout blinds tricky, because it’s still super dark in the morning when your body’s circadian rhythm would usually start to increase cortisol to wake you up. Instead, I recommend closing your blinds or curtains most of the way but making room for some light. If you prefer it to be darker, wear an eye mask.
Be Compassionate with your Wake Up Time: Wake up when you intuitively want to (exercising A LOT of compassion if you find yourself feeling guilty for sleeping in later).
Observe what’s working and what’s not: Observe any patterns in your sleep/wake up routine and adjust to cater to what feels best for you!
How To Go Alarm Clock-Free: If You Can’t Do It Full-Time
If living without an alarm clock isn’t entirely possible for you right now given your lifestyle (hey shift workers, 9-5’ers and parents – I’ve got you), I have some recommendations for you that will help you to live a little more in harmony with your body and honour your natural circadian rhythm.
Pick and choose the below strategies as you wish if you feel they would be a good fit for your lifestyle. Note: some of these are actually the same as I shared above!
Technology: Try to avoid technology at least 30 minutes before bed. If you are engaging in technology, consider wearing some blue-light blockers.
Exposure to Light: In general, try to get your exposure to light, be it artificial or natural outdoor lighting, during the day and gradually decrease exposure into the evening and night. Blue light blocks, a “night mode” setting on your phone and limiting technology usage in the evening can help this!
Go to bed at same time: Get into bed and aim to fall asleep somewhat around the same time each night. Try to be mindful of enjoying stimulating food & beverages (if you choose to have them) earlier in the day, versus later (which, will make it more difficult to fall asleep).
Pre-Bed Routine: Read a book, do a meditation or journal to prepare for a restful sleep (optional, but recommended if it helps you ~20-30 mins before bed).
Set the latest alarm possible: Set the latest possible alarm you can, while still being able to get any important aspects of your morning routine in.
Get a sunrise imitation alarm clock: Consider investing in the Phillip’s Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock Natural Sunrise Alarm Clock.
This alarm clock will make your wake ups dreamier than ever! It works by imitating a natural sunrise and gets brighter over time to gently wake you up. So what would happen, if you set your alarm for 7:00am, at around 6:50am, it would emit a really soft amber colour and gradually get brighter and brighter, reaching its brightest light (it goes from 1 - 14) at 7:00am. If you still aren’t awake and haven’t signalled to the alarm clock that you’re awake, it will play a really gentle sound. If you must continue to use an alarm clock, this is the one you’ll want! You can find it on Amazon.
Blinds: When preparing your room for sleep, close the blinds but leave them open a crack where light can shine through in the morning. I recommend sleeping with an eye mask so it can be dark for you to fall asleep, and light for you in the morning when the light shines through (and if you’re anything like me, your eye mask will have magically fallen off your face in the night).
In Summary …
Overall, the goal here is baby steps and to not strive for perfection. While I’m sharing this post with you about my journey, don’t mistake it for me having it down pat or doing it perfectly. There are many nights I’m scrolling right before bed or times when I still have to set an alarm, be it me just wanting to be up earlier or needing to be at an appointment for a specific time. It’s a process and a journey. I’ve personally only been on this journey for 3 months, and while it’s been great for the most part, there is still some element of control I’m working on releasing. That’s okay. Because I am human and compassion is the name of the game!
I hope you’ll take what resonated with you from this post and be able to experience what it feels like to live a little more intuitively and in harmony with your body. If you happen to experience any drastic benefits that you wish to share, please leave them in the comments below or message me directly on Instagram @rachelmmolenda.