Alarm Clock Myth - How to wake up early

Another piece of alleged universal wisdom where one person mistakes their own personal experience in their own personal domain for a universal truth.<p>Suppose I go to bed at some time before midnight, having set my alarm for a "drop dead" time of 06:30. Suppose now I wake at 05:30. Do I proactively switch off the alarm and rise?<p>What about if I wake at 05:00? Or 04:30? Or 02:00?<p>Where is the cut-off? Where is the wisdom that solves all my problems, enabling me not to have to make any decisions?<p>I'm really tired of people telling me what to do and how to run my life based on their "epiphany" about their pico-universe, ignoring the immense and fantastic diversity of life outside their own experience.

If only there was a way to go to bed early instead of reading HN, I might be able to wake up before my alarm.

What if I wake up 2 hours before the alarm clock goes off? I can live with 15 or 30 minutes but any more and I most likely will go to sleep again. Where is the cut-off from too-early to perfect morning routine?

When I was in high school I had a digital radio alarm clock. I had my alarm set at 6am. There was a time over the course of a month, where every single day, I would wake up at 5:59, and as my hand was reaching over to disable it, the alarm would go off mid-slap. It was at this point I realized how good our internal clocks are (to the second?), and I haven't used an alarm clock since. The trick is going to bed on time. Also, mental exercise is far more tiring than physical exercise. If you can't sleep you aren't working your brain hard enough.

This is spot on. For me the key is in getting up earlier than ever you would need according to daily pressures. Right now I'm getting up around 4am, and since I adapted to it (I take melatonin so that's really easy) I don't need an alarm clock anymore. Sometimes I wake up naturally before that, sometimes later. But it's healthy, my body gets a gentle start, and I'm never late (on days I oversleep so hard that I feel sorry for myself it turns out it's 6:30am or something) if duty calls. And as a programmer I love getting some good work done on side projects before I head off to work my 9-to-5.<p>Granted I need to hit bed around 8pm at most (since I really like to get up even earlier around 3am), and I'm still trying to puzzle out how that's gonna work with my social life. My day job kinda gets in the way of otherwise being able to do a siesta and then sleep less at night. But for February I took the plunge of sleeping at the same time everyday, and that means a full month without nightlife, to cement a good habit. Carnival season 'round here makes that easier, since there is beer and parades a-plenty as early as morning.

What about those alarms that simulate sunrise with a gradual light, and so you wake up slowly, and not in a sudden annoying noise?

The article makes sense - the only thing I'd add is "go to sleep at a consistent time at night, and you'll wake up at a consistent time in the morning" (also, avoid caffeine, it throws your sleep schedule off like mad)

Here is my routine:<p>I get up every morning between 4:00 to 4:15 while my phone is set to 04:20.<p>This way, I walk into the office around 05:15 and start my day.<p>I usually leave between 18:00 to 18:30, get home within 30 minutes.<p>That leaves about 3+ hours to be with the family, kids + wife, before going to sleep around 22:30.<p>On crazy times, I wake up even earlier (naturally or setting earlier alarm clock).<p>I prefer getting up earlier than going to sleep later. That is, my actual deadline is the sleep time, not the wake time.

This advice falls under the general pattern of addressing a relatable problem and offering a solution that validates the reader's intuition without explaining how to make the behavior habitual. Stating what I want to achieve (waking up before my alarm) doesn't help me achieve it.<p>The author claims to have 'given a lot of thought' to other products. What products? Is pure reason the right approach for deriving solutions to behavioral problems?

I've been getting up at 4:30 for years. Here's the secret: go to bed earlier. Unless there's a deadline, I'm in bed by 10-10:30.<p>grounding breaking stuff right?

My mind works well in the morning, so I'm motivated to wake up as early as the local coffee shop opens...so in Asia I wake up around 6AM (since nothing opens until 7) while in the states I can wake up much earlier (~5AM). Having something to look forward to in the morning (coding!) creates a natural alarm.

I haven't used an alarm clock in many years. I look at the time before I fall asleep and decide what time I want to wake up, and I do.<p>It doesn't matter how late I went to bed, nor how early I have to get up. I just have to decide before I fall asleep when I want to wake up.

My advice: sleep in a room that faces sunrise and don't use blinds.<p>I've noticed a world of difference between waking up naturally at 7:00 and waking up via alarm clock at 7:00.]

To wake early, go to bed early. Dead simple!

&#62;How many times have this happened that you woke up half an hour before you were supposed to [...]<p>never, lol.

In our next issue: The Homelessness Myth - Just get a house!