Ideal versus Real…
In an ideal world, my morning would begin when my body just naturally woke up after a good night of restful sleep and I would not need an artificial noisemaker to cue the start of my day. But most days I cannot afford to entrust my natural instincts to ensure I have given myself enough time to prepare for what lies ahead.
Hence the need for this wonderful thing called an “alarm clock”.
Trip Down the Memory Lane…
Well, years ago I had relied on one of those nice big digit red numeral digital alarm clock to do its thing. It was not pleasant. I cannot remember how many times, I have been more annoyed by it and shut it off in frustration only to oversleep and miss my first appointment for the day.
This was especially during my college years when I was learning what it meant to live away from the comforting nurture of my parents. And missing my first appointment meant missing my first class of the day. Oh, I shudder just thinking about it….but, I digress.
Oh, the Lovely Chimes…
As the years rolled on, like most folks, I became a connoisseur of the wonderful device called the smart phone. And this beauty had such melodious sounds that made the whole concept of “alarm clock”….ahem….less alarming. Soon I began to pick may favorite tunes and jingles to wake up to in the morning.
I became so good that I even picked different tunes for different times. For example, I’d set one tune to wake me up early enough to to give myself more time to prep and then I’d set another tune to wake me up at the absolute last minute…just in case I’d snoozed or turned off my first wake up call.
Then I could have a different wake up time for the weekends.
I could then also use this functionality to remind me of other tasks during the day….like a nudge to wake up the kids lest they don’t have enough time to prepare for the school day.
Realization of the Trap of the Smartphone
While this reliance on my beloved smartphone grew, it also sucked me into itself.
I truly have no idea how long I had been living this way but only recently I realized that because the phone was the first physical object I was interacting with each morning, I tended to begin perusing it. You know, things like checking emails, reading news, playing my favorite games, checking my feeds….etc. And before I knew it I did not have time for much else before I had to get on with the real tasks of my day. Like, work!
About 2 months ago as I was taking stock of my life, my priorities and time management, I was thinking to myself how I could fit all that I wanted to do into my schedule. That’s when I discovered that unbeknownst to me, my precious morning time was not productive or blissful at all like it was meant to be.
The Decision
I immediately knew I had to do something about it. I needed to find a way to not touch my phone for the first part of my day. This meant I needed to find another way of waking up in the morning.
This is when the inner recesses of my brain triggered the memories of the good old alarm clock that used to wake me up. The one that I no longer possessed. The one that used to annoy me so much by its irritating beeping.
As much as the thought of a physical alarm clock brought back painful memories, I knew I needed to change. So, I did what every modern woman does. I went shopping on my favorite online store.
I had made up my mind. There was no turning back now.
Finding the Right One
As I was shopping, what I found shocked me. The alarm clock was not a relic. It still exists. And it had evolved. There were so many new options to pick from. I had another tough decision to make. How much money did I want to spend on something that I had lived without for years?
Eventually I settled on something that was the most economical with some standard but also newer features:
- A blue digital model instead of the traditional red digit clocks
- Sound options other than the beeping
- Basic snooze feature
- Time memory feature so power outage or accidental unplugs wouldn’t wipe out the settings
- Adjustable brightness
And I spent less than $20 on it. I could have splurged or gone for a much cheaper model but the above listed features were important to me and so it seemed well worth the investment.
A World of Difference
When I got the package in the mail, I was so excited. I set it up that night and began the journey of transitioning from my phone based life to a lifestyle that will allow me to re-claim my precious morning me-time.
And I got back not just my morning time for myself but also my night time. Since I was determined not to get to the phone first thing in the morning, I dutifully placed my phone in our spare bedroom which doubles as my home office the night before – at least an hour before bedtime. This allowed me to relax with a book or soothing music rather than browse my phone just before getting my shut-eye.
The few mornings of doing this, I was so blissful. I had set the clock to wake me up to the sound of birds chirping. Oh, it was such a pleasant way to wake.
Little by little I was taking back lost ground and was beginning to feel so much more fulfilled and my days became more meaningful as I was able to prioritize the most important aspects of my life first.
Never Going Back
I have now been in this mode for almost 2 months. And these last few weeks have been some of the best I’ve had.
My only regret: why did I not do this sooner!
Jubila 365 