Who needs an alarm clock to wake up?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by this thread in GQ, I wanted to find out who gets up via their alarm clock, vs. who awakens automatically.

I don’t need an alarm anymore, and haven’t for a good many years. I automatically wake up within about 5 minutes of the time I need to get up, 49 times out of 50.

I don’t know how this happened, I spent my first 30 years alarm-clock dependent. But it is sort of nice to awaken spontaneously, and not be dragged from sleep by the screech of the alarm.

I will note that I still set the alarm, for that one time in 50 that I sleep longer than intended.

2

I rarely need the alarm clock. I’ll only set it out of paranoia, or if I have to get up at some abnormal time. Usually I am awake , as is the OP, 5 minutes before the alarm would go off on a normal workday.

5:30am is standard.

3

Same as you – I set it but I’m always awake before it goes off.

It’s only been like this for the last few years. When I worked full-time and had to be up at 5:30 or 6, I depended on the alarm clock. Mine has a sweet little chirpy sound, so I didn’t mind waking to it.

4

What sucks is that I find I can’t sleep in on the weekends anymore, unless I stay up waaaaaay late the night before.

My alarm is set to go off twice, 15 minutes apart. After the second one, I lay in bed until after the weather report on the news, then I’m up.

5

My favorite part of Saturday is turning off the alarm clock the night before. While I do tend to wake up around the time my alarm goes off during the week (6:05 am), it is very easy for me to fall back into sleep for several more hours. For me, there is a difference between being awake and being up, and the alarm clock makes sure I get from awake to up.

6

Count me in with those who need the alarm clock. One of the side effects of my medication is insomnia, so I have a very irregular sleep schedule.

7

No need for alarm for me either. Still set it but am always up well before it goes off. I can’t stay in bed on weekends either, once I am awake I can’t stand laying around in bed. I don’t seem to have the same problem with the couch though…

8

I have a talking alarm clock.
Push the big button, & it speaks the time. That way, I don’t have to hunt for my glasses in the dark.

9

Does anyone else do this?:
I put my alarm clock on the other side of my room, so I have to get out of bed to turn it off. Otherwise, it’s too tempting to hit snooze a few times before getting up.

10

I need to do that. My routine is to hit the snooze for an hour or so which leads to horrible sleep.

I have to use an alarm. (I usually just set my phone) On days without an alarm, I wake up around 9:30 or so, too late for work.

11

I definitely need an alarm. In fact, most days I set two: One that goes off at 7:30 right by my bed (and I always hit snooze at least once or twice). The other is across the room and doesn’t go off until 8:15, which is when if I’m not already out of bed, I’ve really got to get up.

Without an alarm I will easily sleep at least an hour or two past when I need to get up.

12

The degree to which I need an alarm is inversely proportional to how much I’m going to enjoy whatever I’m getting up to do. I’ve woken up on my own at 3 a.m. to catch a lunar eclipse before, but I needed the alarm every single day this summer to get up and go to the job that I hated.

13

I’m 50 and have never owned one. I bought my first color TV about 3 months ago. Used.

14

Yea, definitely don’t need the alarm clock any more. I needed it back when I was in high school and I had to wake up around 5:30 in the morning, but now that I’m waking up at a slightly more reasonable hour for work (7:00), I’ve found that I almost always wake up 5 minutes before my alarm goes off.

It is very infrequent that my alarm actually wakes me up. I just set it for that 1 time out of 50 that it does.

15

I usually wake up before the alarm, but nowhere near reliably enough to not set the alarm.

16

I need at least two alarms to get up anywhere near on time. I don’t get much sleep, so my body resists a whole lot.

17

I have 5 dogs - who needs an alarm clock? Actually, the get me up about an hour before I have to be up, and I have a clock radio as a backup.

StG

18

I had a friend who used to lock his in a tin box by his bed and leave the key in a bucket of water across the room.

Maybe you guys need this?

19

I can wake up when I want to. I usually set an alarm as a backup, but it’s not really necessary. This includes waking at 2 or 3 in the morning if I need to catch an early flight.

20

Nope, I don’t bother to set mine anymore. Always awake within 5 minutes of 530 am, have to be at work by 630 am. Fortunately I’m only 5 minutes drive away.