Colin Walker

Nicholas Bate writes that "A wake up alarm is crazy. Why plan to wake before your mind/body has had time for refresh, repair and restore?"

I read this just after commenting that "getting ready for work just gets in the way."

Bate goes on to say: "Now setting a time-for-bed alarm, that's a great idea."

Apple introduced the "Bedtime" feature in the iOS clock app with the idea of reminding you when to go to bed based on when you need to rise, thus ensuring you get a regular, decent night's sleep.

A great idea indeed but, unfortunately, work gets in the way. Being on shifts and not getting home until almost 9pm (sometimes later) when "on a late" makes it impossible to have a regular sleep regimen.

Throw in having to get up around 4am for an early shift (when getting my 8 hours would mean ascending the wooden hillock to Bedfordshire at 8pm) and things really start to get untenable.

Maybe I just need different work.

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  1. matthewlang says: #
    Perhaps different work is what you need. I'm in the fortunate position of having a pretty regular day most of the time, so I'm usually up before my alarm clock goes off anyway. There's only a few times a month when I need my alarm clock to wake me, and that's when I've been up later than usual the night before. I don't think I could go to sleep without having an alarm clock for the next morning though. Even though I do usually get up before the alarm goes off, it's nice to have a backup in case I do go back to sleep.
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    1. Colin Walker says: #
      Yeah, it’s just that I don’t know what. I’m a bit trapped in my current role due to a salary that’s probably too high for the skillset because of where it is and who I work for, so moving on or changing career is not such a simple prospect.
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  2. Avancee says: #
    A bed-time alarm is something like what my Oura Ring ends up “teaching” you to have. Waking up has become more or less “get up when you are rested.” But getting to sleep, and especially lately as its analytics have been doing a bedtime window, have been pretty interesting in making a bed-time alarm.
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  3. Matt Rutherford says: #
    I have found (with age?) that I value sleep quality more and more. A commute into London with relative sanity means that I get up at 5.30am - so I find that 10pm is my absolute cut-off - I don't have an alarm for it, but I recognise the discipline required. If I do it correctly (no screens, cool room, right time of eating & drinking), I wake up between 10 and 20 minutes before my alarm. I still have the alarm as a back-up/insurance - but if I focus on the quality of the sleep, then the time is slightly less important.
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