Adventures in waking up

[christopher575]

I decided years ago that I would no longer have a clock where I can see it from bed. I just don't think being able to easily see what time it is helps anyone sleep. Ever notice people who can't sleep posting pictures of their clocks? Yeah. Quit playing with your phone and just relax.

I use my phone for my alarm, and I have an awesome clock on the wall, but it doesn't light up and is too far away to see. So I'll glance at it if I get up to go to the bathroom, but otherwise I just have no idea what time it is. If the cats are bothering me, it's probably 3:45 or so, but between when I go to sleep and when I wake up, who can say?

And they do like to bug me, so the last half hour of my night is generally spent trying to get them to cuddle or kicking them off the bed while mostly just relaxing and waiting for the alarm to go off. But yesterday and today, I woke up before they started bothering me, and that period went on and on. I have no idea what time I woke up, but my guess would be 3am.

But the sleep I've been getting is pretty great. It's been cold and Sam and Steve are super cuddly. I sleep on my side, and one of them will always be pressed up against my stomach while the other's up against my butt. Adorable.

Part of me wants to just get up when I can't fall back asleep and take a longer walk. I never do, though, because I feel like leaving the house to exercise before 4am is weird. Like, it's still the night before.

Comments

[susandennis]

This is fascinating to me because I am exactly the opposite. I cannot sleep well unless I can easily see what time it is. At home I have bright clocks on both sides of my bed so I don't even have to turn over. On the road I have an app that turns my phone into a clock with bright, giant numbers.

I love waking up and seeing that have have lots of hours left when I can sleep or waking up and seeing that I can shut my eyes for another 30 minutes.

If I don't have the clock then I wake up thinking I've slept for days when it's only been an hour or that I'm late for whatever.

In other words exactly the opposite of what you describe!! Wild, eh? I love this about journals - learning how other people deal with the same stuff differently.

[tbass.livejournal.com]

I am like Susan. If I couldn't see the clock when I wake up, I would probably freak out.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

If I wake up in the night, I absolutely HAVE to know what time it is and I need to know exactly how much more sleepy time I get!

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to get Riley to be a night cuddler. Ella was, but it took her a long time to get to that spot.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I kinda think they'll stop being so snuggly when the cold weather ends.

[dawnzerly.livejournal.com]

One of the many, many things I did to combat my insomnia was give up the clock in the bedroom. Even the little bit of light would be enough to disrupt my sleep.

I did eventually get a clock that projected the time on the ceiling or wall depending on where I wanted to aim it. I miss that clock.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Did it project all the time, or just when you clapped or something?

[dawnzerly.livejournal.com]

All the time, but you could only see it if the lights were off. It wasn't terribly bright. For example, it's noticeable (to me at least) if a standard alarm clock is on in a dark room, but this alarm clock you wouldn't notice it unless you could see where the time was being projected.

[my-ophelia.livejournal.com]

I haven't used an alarm to wake up since I was about 16. At that time I lived on Bainbridge and had to be up at 4am to catch a 6 something ferry.

I haven't really needed an alarm since, except sometimes as a backup on really important days (but I still wake up before the alarm), and most of the time I wake up between 4am-5am.