One Small Change: An Alarm Clock

What wakes you up in the morning? I just made the switch from using my smartphone alarm to using a good old-fashioned alarm clock and I can feel a difference in the length and quality of my sleep.

I was reading The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (I have mixed feelings about that book) and one of Gretchen’s January goals was to go to sleep earlier. Reading about her efforts to get more and better sleep inspired me to try the same for myself, too. I really needed more sleep, and I identified my greatest stumbling block: using my smartphone as an alarm clock. Just having my phone next to me all night was encouragement to stay on, my head buzzing with thoughts, when it was time to be relaxing into sleep. I was constantly popping back up to save something on my to-do list or in my calendar or to respond to texts or write down a thought, and the glare from my phone wasn’t any help then, either. I knew my mornings would also get off to a better (and faster) start if I didn’t have my phone so readily available as a distraction, keeping me from getting up on time.

I didn’t even have to go out and buy an alarm clock (although I would have); I found an extra one at home. That night, I turned my phone on silent, plugged in the charger in a different room, set my new alarm, and went to bed.

It’s been a week and I can really feel the difference in myself. I’m more relaxed at night, because I have to trust that if there’s a thought I’ll need to remember the next morning, it will come back to me on its own. I’m falling asleep faster and waking up refreshed. And because I have no distractions keeping me in bed late in the morning, my mornings are more productive and relaxed, too. Isn’t it great how such a small change can make such a big difference?

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