three on thursday
4 hours ago
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Silence
The one part of the fitbit watch that I didn't comment on last week was the silent alarm. This feature may very well have changed my life. As I've mentioned a few times, I am not much of a morning person.
So the requirement as a teacher to rise early is literally painful for me. And even worse is waking up early to an alarm clock. That sound makes me shudder. Needless to say, between the early mornings and the jarring alarm clock, I'm kind of moody in the morning.
While figuring out all the details of the fitbit, the directions mentioned the silent alarm. At first I was skeptical - how could a silent alarm jolt me out of bed like an alarm clock? But the idea of a silent alarm was also very appealing. So over winter break, I played around with it a bit. There weren't too many days I needed to set the alarm, but when I did I also set it on the watch. Because the time needed to get up over break wasn't very early, on most days I woke up before either alarm went off. So the true test was when I went back to work. I decided to set the watch for 4:50, the time I needed to get up in order to walk Rigby, and then the alarm clock a couple of minutes later as a "just in case". I worried that the silent alarm, which is a vibration on the wrist, wouldn't be enough to wake me so the alarm clock was a second layer of protection. The first few weeks back to work, the setting of the watch wreaked a bit of havoc with my sleeping. I woke up constantly through the night, I think worried about whether it was going to wake me up. The worst was that I kept waking up 10-15 minutes before it went off. To someone who loves to sleep, those lost 15 minutes are a killer. Anyhow, I gave it a month trial and by the start of February, I was back to sleeping through the night and also was awakened by the silent alarm, before the alarm clock ever went off. The wrist vibration is much less jolting than that stupid alarm clock. Now, mornings are still painful, but at least I don't want to throw an alarm clock across the room. It's definitely more pleasant. The only draw back is wearing the watch to bed, but it's definitely worth it, for now.
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I just can't figure your start time. And I can't figure out how you aren't in bed by 10 everynight. I even looked up the stats for the LA Ed board. ONLY 6% white in the system, WTF.
ReplyDeleteHave you a Amz page so I can see the thing. I'm having difficulty. Is it just the watch thing vibrates in it's case or is there pins digging into you.
And you know you might visit a Chinese medicine person to see about the energy level thing. It might be something real simple.
Oooooooh fit bit is the blooming name of the thingy.
DeleteI've got to be at work between 7:15/7:30, and and I walk the dog for an hour, so it's up early. If I walk in the evening, I get up an hour later. It's not so much an energy issue, is I just don't like to be woken up. :) If I wake up on my own whether it be 6 or 8 or 12, that's much better. And while I do get into bed by 7 or 8, I then work on what have you (usually school related). By 10, I settle in to read and then try to make sure lights are out by 11. Night time is my most invigorating time, and I get a lot done. It's just not so conducive to teacher hours. It'd work better if I were a nightclub owner or something. :)
DeleteOh and yes, the watch is called a fitbit. So it vibrates on my wrist, since it's worn like a watch. Mine also shows the time so it has replaced my watch most of the time. It's definitely a strong buzzing (if that's the right word) on my wrist, but not startling or noisy.
Delete4:50? Really?? Bless your heart. I think 5:30 was my earliest.
ReplyDeleteI've never liked sleeping in any kind of "jewelry", so I'm not sure I'd be comfortable wearing a fitbit 24/7. I think the silent alarm would wake me, though. I've never been a really heavy sleeper.
I've reached a point in life where I can usually make myself wake shortly before I have an alarm set (which is pretty much only on Sunday mornings now, when I go to an early Eucharist). I use one of the lesser offensive alert tones from my phone. Back in the day, I used a clock radio rather than a buzzer.
I won't say I'm a morning person, but I don't mind mornings on my own terms, not the alarm clock's!
Often, I wake up right before the alarm goes off, just, as you said as the inner body clock is set I guess. But being late for work is not an options so I can't rely solely on that. On the very rare occasion I've set the alarm incorrectly or turned it off in my sleep, well that waking up late is a worse feeling than being jarred awake by the alarm.
DeleteOne of the nice things about smart phones is that you can set them to wake you to smoothing sounds and then, if you don't respond, more jarring ones! I generally find myself waking up before the alarm goes off.
ReplyDeleteI know most people use their phones as alarms anymore, but I don't like having it in the bedroom. My obsessive need to check it often was impeding my need for sleep. :)
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