Let's suppose that you have to wake up by 6 am to reach the office on time. In order to avoid hitting the snooze button, you set your first alarm on your phone for 5:30 am, your second for 5:45 am, and your third for 5:55 am. And just to be safe, you add in 6:05 am. Does this sound like you? Experts advise against overloading your clock app with too many morning alarms since it will make you feel groggy and exhausted in the morning.
A TikTok user, Jordan Bruss, recently revealed why people should not set several alarms. "If you're somebody who sets multiple alarms I have bad news. Don't come for me. Just trying to help," he said in the clip, which now has over 10 million views, as per the New York Post.
The health expert wrote in the caption, "Good sleep hygiene is a big part of my physical and mental health. I promise I would not be in the shape I am in without serious research in the deep sleep department. Don't cause yourself extra physical and mental stress."
The final and fourth stage of the sleep cycle, known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, is often entered and exited during the final hours of sleep. Notably, this phase is especially crucial for digesting memories and stimulating creativity. It could affect brain function if that stage of sleep is broken up.
"Waking to multiple alarms every morning really disrupts your rapid eye movement (REM) cycle frequently this actually causes sleep inertia, increased drowsiness, fatigue, mood swings and it also raises your cortisol levels," the nurse revealed in the video.
Every time the alarm goes off, she explains, the body goes into a "fight or flight response," which can be considered stressful. "Over time, a chronic morning 'fight or flight' adrenaline response can cause long-term stress, depression, and cardiovascular problems," the Joint Chiropractic site stated.
The tensions building in your body from a lack of consistent sleep can also contribute to weight gain. "Excess cortisol levels make you gain and hang on to weight. So when the alarm goes off, it's time, get up. You'll look and feel better!"
Ms Bruss suggested setting only one alarm. "Don't keep traumatizing yourself! When that alarm goes off in the morning, get up!" she remarked.
Dr Alicia Roth, a clinician at Cleveland Clinic's Sleep Disorders Center in Ohio, told CNN that if a person needs to wake up at 7 am and the alarms begin at 6 am, they are getting an hour of bad-quality sleep.
Although having only one alarm is ideal, she noted that it could be challenging to wake up to only one after utilising several as a safety precaution. She suggests experimenting with various alarm clocks, such as one that uses light or one that requires you to get out of bed to turn it off. According to Dr. Cathy Goldstein, a sleep medicine physician at the Michigan Medicine Sleep Disorders Centers, it's also critical to wake up and go to bed at roughly the same times every day.
She said that it will be hard "if you're somebody who sleeps really well from 3 am to noon, and that's how you sleep on the weekends, but on Monday morning, you have to wake up at 6 am to commute. That's earlier than your biology is prepared to wake up, and it's going to be very difficult to get up."
Dr Goldstein suggests adjusting bedtime every few days by thirty minutes, or once a week by an hour for individuals who want to adjust their biological clocks. She also mentioned that avoiding bright lighting and restricting screen time to no more than four hours before bed can aid in enhancing the body's natural melatonin production.
