Ode Against the Alarm Clock

Wake up and embrace life, Fabulous Traveler, every morning.

How can you wake up peacefully if you’re using an alarm clock that makes a bewildering and confusing racket every morning?

I’m on a quest, Fabulous Traveler. I want to eliminate all these stressful alarm clocks from our bedsides.

They are among the most vicious enemies of a great night’s sleep. They trap you with their supposed usefulness.

Let’s explore how alarm clocks have been playing games on us all these years.

Suppose, Fabulous Traveler, that you wake up during the night, and you take a glimpse at your alarm clock.

You might see that you only have two hours left before the day begins. You start stressing, wondering whether it’s really worth it to go back to sleep.

Your mind starts telling you that you didn’t get a good night’s sleep. A recent study has proven that, if you think you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, even if you really did, you will do less well on cognitive tests. If you tell yourself that you didn’t have a good night’s sleep, it will become your reality.

What if the night is still young and you take a look at the time? That quick glimpse will grant you permission to check your email, Facebook, or Snapchat since it’s still early. Then, of course, you’ll have difficulty liberating yourself. All these apps are created to addict you. They use every available behavior change trick to ensnare you to use them all night.

And once you finally fall asleep… The alarm starts ringing.

The sound of death! A boring, repetitive sound that will make you fall out of bed one day.

You wake up grumpy, dreading the day facing you.

Why should you go through this every morning?

Fabulous Traveler, take just one action: get rid of that alarm clock. There are plenty of alternatives.

Use a gentle alarm sound to wake you up in the morning, or leave the window open and wake up with the sun. If you’re using your phone as an alarm, don’t put it by your bedside, and block the internet and data plan after midnight.

It would take you 10 minutes to implement this simple step. Then, you will no longer be tempted to check your email during late-night awakenings, and you will no longer start stressing about how many hours you still have left to sleep.

You’ll simply have a great night’s sleep, and if you start experiencing regular sleep hours, you’ll soon find yourself waking on your own, without the need for an alarm. You can then use The Fabulous to start your morning ritual.

Start your day with a smile, Fabulous Traveler. A new day is a gift from nature. You have the freedom to do whatever you want because this life is yours.

You always have a choice.

“It is a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”

- Hugh Laurie, English actor, director, musician, singer, comedian, and author.