Why this gesture (so universal) can take its toll on you for the rest of the day
A few days ago a friend told me that, to wake up, she had programmed up to 15 alarms on her mobile, with about 5 minutes of separation between each of them. It’s not that she lets these 15 alarms go off every day, but for her it’s an effective method to get up on time and be able to get to the office on time.
Let’s say it gives you some security to know that you have those 15 alarms and that if you turn off one (or more of them), they will go off again. This is the most exaggerated example that I can think of to talk about a universal gesture: that of turning off the alarm clock and sleeping ‘5 more minutes‘ until it rings again. Well, although delaying the time to get out of bed (with various strategies) is something that many people do, it is important to talk about how this habit can affect us the rest of the day and make us more tired.
This is how Dr. Carlos Javier Egea, Pulmonologist at the Sleep Unit of the Vithas San José Hospital in Vitoria, explains it: “By turning off the alarm clock, going back to sleep and waking up again after 5 minutes , we fragment a natural sleep, which can translate into drowsiness and tiredness during the day. We would say that with this type of awakening we are fragmenting sleep, making it difficult to wake up healthy.”
This small habit of not getting up the first time – raise your hand if you haven’t done it at some time – can affect your sense of well-being, although it will all depend on each person and how long they decide to delay the alarm clock.
That feeling of discomfort will be more evident (and unpleasant) if you sleep, not just 5 more minutes, but about 20-30 minutes, as you will enter a phase of deep sleep. “If it is less time, it is likely that we will wake up from a more superficial sleep or REM sleep and, therefore, the sensation will be totally different. But if we wake up in a deep phase, then we will wake up with a thick head and with more of a feeling of drowsiness,” explains the expert.
Is it possible not to use an alarm clock?
We ask this question because Dr. Egea explains that the alarm clock is an artificial way of returning to the waking state and that it makes the trance of activating in the morning more difficult and burdensome. In order to achieve a healthy sleep cycle that positively affects our day-to-day lives, the expert advises not to use an alarm clock. “Initially it is complicated, but with the passage of time you get used to it. To avoid problems, a good time to try it is during a holiday period,” he explains.
What if you need to set your alarm clock?
Although a good purpose is to get our body used to not needing an alarm clock, if you need to use it, Dr. Estivill proposes two alternatives.
- A) Use a light alarm clock that replicates the light of dawn. “Light is the ideal way to wake up, especially if we have slept the 8 hours we need. These types of alarm clocks provide us with a more pleasant awakening,” explains Estivill.
- B) Choose an alarm clock – there are several applications that can help you – that emits a monotonous noise or slow and non-aggressive music, which gradually increases in intensity . “The worst awakening is the sudden noise of an alarm. When it sounds like this we can be in any phase of sleep and if it is a deep sleep the awakening will be worse,” explains the expert.
The trick of exposing yourself to the sun during the day (to sleep better at night)
As the expert from the Vithas San José Hospital explains, to have a healthy sleep cycle, it helps a lot to be exposed to the sun during the day. “Light during the day and darkness at night, as well as other external cues, are important in the sleep cycle,” he says.
How do you know if you’re getting enough sleep?
Although the general recommendation is to sleep between seven and nine hours – something that most of the general population does not do – as Dr. Egea explains, canons cannot be established on sleep because they would not be adapted to the specific needs of each person. Not everyone needs to sleep the same number of hours. The mattress on which you rest can have a direct impact on the quality of your sleep, if you have been wanting to change mattresses for a long time, our advisors can advise you without obligation (Personal advisor: 952 17 85 38) or enter our website www.micolchon.com
“There are people who only need 6 hours of sleep, but in fewer numbers than you think,” explains the expert. Because the general reality is that we sleep less than we need, “but as we are used to it we are not aware of how lack of sleep is affecting us negatively,” says the doctor.
So, how do we know if we are really sleeping little? According to Egea, there are two indications that can help you to know this:
1) Need an alarm clock every morning.
2) Feeling the need to recover the hours of sleep during the weekend. A detail about which, by the way, we have bad news, because “it is not healthy since neither the hours of sleep are fully recovered, nor is it positive for our circadian rhythm”.
Source: Vogue
