# Do you open both eyes on waking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605 "2024-01-04T19:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/1 "2024-01-04T19:27:07Z")
Question brought on by my reading this article: [Tame toxic stress with '5 resets' in 2024 : Shots - Health News : NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/04/1221730997/want-to-stress-less-in-2024-a-new-book-offers-5-resets-to-tame-toxic-stress) but it’s not about any of the main sense of the article. It’s about the following, from the second section in the article: > Surveys also show that over 50% of people check their phones within five minutes of waking up, and some even before their second eye is open, she says. > [. . .] > “When you open your eye, give your body and brain the ability to open the other eye and just rest in the moment, acclimate to the morning, the light,” which took me aback; because, when I open my eyes in the morning, I open my eyes in the morning. Unless a bad cold or something has glued one of them shut, I don’t open one of them, pause for a bit, and only then open the other; but the person quoted seems to take it for granted that that’s what everybody does. So, is this another previously-unrecognized way in which I’m weird? Or is it the assumption that everyone opens one eye in the morning and doesn’t or can’t open the other one at the same time? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/2 "2024-01-04T19:29:49Z")
Well, you’re weird or I am 😉 we need more data. I usually only open one eye (left one generally) to check on hour and if need arise, the other one. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/3 "2024-01-04T19:31:47Z")
I don’t think I have ever intentionally opened only one eye in my life upon awakening. If the light is too bright or I am sleepy, I sometimes intentionally don’t fully open them, but I would _think_ that deliberately opening one would not only be harder than just not fully opening them, but would also be as harsh on my mind as fully opening both of them. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/4 "2024-01-04T20:53:12Z")
I think i open my eyes before i realize i’m awake, before i have the opportunity to consciously decide what my eye opening sequence is going to be. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/5 "2024-01-04T21:47:46Z")
I heard that story this morning and also noticed the one eye phrase as well as a stat given right before: > “Studies have shown that on average, adults check their phone 2,617 times a day,” says Nerurkar. I take the one eye open as a bit of storytelling embellishment or padding, not unlike **needing** coffee to get out the door. But the 2617 number given so confidently feels truthy. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/6 "2024-01-04T22:37:30Z")
> [@FrenchDunadan](#): > > Well, you’re weird or I am 😉 > we need more data. So far, at least; and to the limited extent that such a poll is valid; it looks like on this specific issue you’re weirder than I am; and that the person writing the article shouldn’t have assumed this was what everyone or nearly everyone does; but opening one eye later than the other does seem to be something a significant number of people do. > [@jnglmassiv](#): > > the 2617 number given so confidently feels truthy. Yeah. Also implausible – that’s 109 times an hour, or nearly twice every minute, even assuming all 24 hours and therefore no sleep. If we assume even 7 hours asleep or doing something precluding checking the phone, I get 153 times an hour, or over 2 1/2 times every minute. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/7 "2024-01-04T22:45:37Z")
Both eyes? Only when my dog jumps on my chest. Happens every night. Generally around 2am. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/8 "2024-01-04T22:49:00Z")
I don’t know. I know that if it’s not obviously time to get up I will open one eye to check the time but I’m not sure what I do otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/9 "2024-01-04T22:53:11Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > I think i open my eyes before i realize i’m awake, before i have the > opportunity to consciously decide what my eye opening sequence is going to be. Yep, that’s me. I’m pretty sure I’ve been staring at the wall, aimlessly thinking for a minute or so before my brain realizes we’re awake. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/10 "2024-01-04T22:57:25Z")
I almost put in as an option ‘I don’t know, I’m not awake enough at that point to tell’ but decided just to leave that as a possible “other”; mostly because the article quote seems pretty clearly to be talking about someone sufficiently awake to decide to wait to look at their phone until both eyes are open. Someone who’s not awake enough to tell couldn’t make that decision because they wouldn’t know when they opened the second eye. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/11 "2024-01-04T23:04:57Z")
I’m totally screwed up. I often slept with my eyes partially opened as a youngun. Freaked my sibs out. Now I have only the one eye that’s real. So yeah I open it first. I checked something else, in the poll. . Checking the time on my phone. I don’t do that alot. If I’m looking at it anyway I check the time. I never look at it during sleep hours. I turn all devices off at night. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/12 "2024-01-05T00:28:21Z")
That 2617 times a day number is ridiculously implausible. Checking their phone every 20 seconds is an AVERAGE over all adults? So for every adult (like pretty much all the ones I know) who only check their phone once or twice an hour, there’s another one who checks it every 10 seconds or more? And I see that 15% of US adults don’t even own a phone. How do these people who check their phone every few seconds during their entire waking day manage to do anything else? They check it constantly, while they’re driving, while they’re working, while they’re talking to their boss? And I guess they never use it for anything longer than a few seconds, like watching a video? Anyway, as far as I know, I open both eyes when I wake up. Opening one eye seems like something out of a cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/13 "2024-01-05T00:56:50Z")
I sleep with one eye open, gripping my pillow tight. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/14 "2024-01-05T01:32:55Z")
> [@FrenchDunadan](#): > > Well, you’re weird or I am I’m not ruling out that you’re both weird. I remember when I was a kid and I bugged Mom about something in the morning and she’d say, “my eyes aren’t even open yet” while she was sitting at the dining room table sipping a cup of Maxwell House. I always thought that was strange, but I get it now. My eyes are not “open” until I’ve been awake for a short while. As for the poll, I’ll let you know tomorrow morning. Once my eyes are open. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/15 "2024-01-05T02:28:59Z")
I put “other”. If I’m likely returning to bed (e.g. getting up to pee) any light is annoying, so I only have one eye open, and partially open at that. It’s just an instinctive thing. But on properly getting up, nah I just open both eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/16 "2024-01-05T02:36:41Z")
Remeber the game of telephone? One person would whisper a phrase into someone else’s ear and then that person did the same until it got to the end of the line when the last person said something out loud that barely resembled the original. That, times a googleplex, is the internet. I traced the number 2917 back to [the original source.](https://web.archive.org/web/20160627083526/https://blog.dscout.com/mobile-touches). Guess what? The number is correct but the word “check” is ridiculous, as expected. > [dscout’s](https://web.archive.org/web/20160627083526/http://www.dscout.com/research/pro) web-based research platform pairs with a smartphone app to capture in-the-moment behaviors. For this study, we recruited a demographically diverse sample of 94 Android users from our pool of more than 100,000 participants. Then we built a supplementary smartphone tool to track every user’s interaction across 5 days, 24 hours a day. > > And by _every_ interaction, we mean every tap, type, swipe and click. We’re calling them touches. … > > People tapped, swiped and clicked a whopping 2,617 times each day, on average. That’s like saying I average 2617 posts on the Dope by adding up all the times my fingers touch the keyboard or mouse. The number might be right but the context is much different. I know nobody fact checks any more, especially not a Harvard professor who just wrote a book on the subject, but this is vile. That should have tripped a synapse in every person involved in the article - maybe every person involved with the book - just as it did here. Oh, right. Eyes. Opening. I always open both eyes at once. I’ve read in stories that a person would open one eye, and I never believed it was more than dramatic license. I wouldn’t know _how_ to open only one eye when I awaken. Yep, you people are weird. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/17 "2024-01-05T02:44:19Z")
I don’t normally open only one eye upon waking. But if I’m going to be looking at my phone, I have to only use one eye because I’m nearsighted without my glasses and will need the phone really close to my face–so close that I’ll have to close one eye to avoid double vision. But I’m also weird in that I’m looking at my screen right now with one eye, because I’m tired and my head hurts. It’s just easier. I think it may have something to do with my seizure when I was a toddler. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/18 "2024-01-05T02:50:50Z")
I’m laughing, sure I’m not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/19 "2024-01-05T04:04:34Z")
Wait. There is a time I open only one eye when waking. It’s when I’m laying with the other eye on my pillow. Not flat on or anything, but sometimes the corner of one eye will be pressed up against a lump in the pillow, if I’m laying on that side. I’ll open the other eye and look around if I’m not quite ready to get up yet. Only after I move my head will I open the other eye. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605/20 "2024-01-05T09:44:54Z")
I _can_ manage opening one eye at a time, but unless the other eye is held hard shut for some reason, gently opening one eye at a time requires a degree of concentration (for me, at least) that is simply not in the realm of possibility when I first waken. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-open-both-eyes-on-waking/995605.md?page=2)