Something a little different this week. I wanted to write an update post on last week’s post – Wake Up!
Why?
Well, because a lot of things came out of it – ideas, suggestions and results.
First – Some honesty
In the post last week, I spoke about the importance of having a reason to wake up. If you have a time bound activity, your mind will know you need to be up.
I followed my own advice for the following weekend. The next morning (Saturday) I had agreed to meet my brother at 9am for a game a squash.
You can guess what happened…. I woke up at 7:30am with my alarm, and…… fell back to sleep, not waking until spot on 9am!
So yes I did write about the importance of building a habit to wake up on time and then over sleep the very next day…. But for the record, I still got to the sports centre with enough time for a good game!
Ideas
The next morning (yes, the late morning) I had a message waiting for me on Facebook, sent from a friend of mine whilst they were on a night out, not a drunk text surprisingly, actually a message with their advice on how to wake up (why they were reading my blog on a night out, I’m still not sure…)
What did they have to say? – Build a routine.
Every morning, do the same thing instantly – drink some water, get out and walk to the bathroom, even sing a song. Do anything you want, but do it every day as soon as you wake up. The act of doing something straight away will get you brain in gear.
Suggestions
I’ve tried countless alarm clock apps, but I’ve found anything I like. The alarm noises are horrible, the app doesn’t work and so the alarm doesn’t even go off, or you can’t personalise it enough…
However one app I hadn’t yet tried was suggested to me – Sleep Cycle.
As I entered the app store to search for it, that very app came up as a suggestion on my featured page (a sign? Maybe…)
The app works by using the microphone in your phone or tablet to listen to you sleep and it uses that noise to determine how well you are sleeping. When you set an alarm, you set it in a 30 minute period. At some stage within those 30 minutes, when you are in a light phase of sleep, the alarm will go off… AND… the noise is nice! Soothing, easy music. Not those harsh, loads screeches.
As well as acting as an alarm, you can look back through your nights to see how well you slept, whether this is of much use, I’m not yet sure, but I am certainly interested and check it every morning!
Results
I’ve found it really difficult to build a habit. To do the same thing instantly each morning. However, I can see how it would work. I think this is something I will stick at and attempt over and over, but if it’s for me, I’m not sure yet.
However, I absolutely love this new app!
It works perfectly!! I have used it for four nights so far. Number of times I’ve overslept – 0. Number of times I’ve woken up feeling fresh – 4! I’ve had no issues, I’ve enjoyed seeing how I slept and I’ve felt good each day.
So if you’re a heavy sleeper, Sleep Cycle might be your solution!