I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty reliable internal alarm clock that almost all of the time wakes me up about 10-15 minutes before my alarm goes off.
It doesn’t stop at home either. Though it’s a little harder getting out of the warm sleeping bag in the winter, I wake up before my watch alarm all the time when I’m camping. Waking up isn’t the only thing where I feel like my internal clock is activated either. It seems to kick in when I’m timing nearly everything, like cooking a pizza. I will get up to check on the oven, and a few seconds later the buzzer goes off.
Now most of the time it is a good thing…not having to be rudely woken up by some loud, obnoxious buzzer. But sometimes, like when you are getting up at like 2 or 3 in the morning and every ounce of shut eye counts, it can be a little frustrating. I’m not sure what causes this, but for me I think it is the psych of going skiing. Others say that your body begins to secrete a hormone over an hour before your anticipated time to wake up, in response to some stressful situation…like the harsh buzzing sound of your alarm. Some studies seem to back this up as well.
Interestingly enough, many people I know have the hardest time waking up, so it must be a little different for everyone. What’s it like for you?
Steve,
I like you, have a active internal alarm clock, I will wake up about 5 minutes before my alarm clock its gotten to the point that I don’t even set the thing. For the most part it does nt bother me except in the moments when I need my Z’s however it is nice not counting on an alarm to get me going in the morning. I can even wake up at different ties with the same internal accuracy of 5 minutes before my scheduled wake up time even if it goes from 6AM to 4AM or 9AM.
Steve,
Depends for me…I am up like a flash on ski days, bike days or fishing trips where an early start is required or when I know there is a bit of prep before we leave (guests, etc.)…but I guess my body does relax and sleep harder on a night where I know that I can sleep “in”. If my buddy and I have a 4am meet at the trailhead, I get to sleep and sleep light but sound then am up 10-15mins before the alarm (maybe out of respect for my wife snoozing next to me?) almost everytime.
I think the hormone/chemical release/thing you talked about makes sense to me.
Glad to hear we’re on the same page. Sometimes that extra 10-15 minutes seems like it would be better spent asleep though.
I also wake up REALLY fast if I am going skiing or doing something fun. I am building a house and have to get up extra early tomorrow morning but I am looking forward to the progress so I imagine waking up will be easy. If I was going to work…well….not so easy.
That happens to me too, before my alarm clock rings, i am already awake, our body works with our mind, if we are used or trained to awake at a specific hour, and if our body has been in fact awaking at a specific hour for many weeks/months, our mind will get off the hibernation, even from a dream or a nightmare, our body and mind are also clocks, at least they can be trained to work and to be like a clock.