Why do some people naturally wake up just before their alarm goes off?

r/

Why do so many people wake up just a few minutes before their alarm goes off, even when they’re exhausted? It feels like my body has its own built-in alarm clock.

Comments

  1. bangbangracer Avatar

    Over time we build up a circadian rhythm. The body doesn’t have an internal clock, but you get used to doing certain things at certain times.

  2. RemarkableAssociate6 Avatar

    Maybe when you prepare to wake up at a given time, your body listens

  3. Jory69420 Avatar

    I frequently naturally wake up 10-15min before my alarm goes off, once you’re in a consistent routine your body’s internal clock will follow suit

  4. wylderpixie Avatar

    Everyone keeps mentioning schedule as why except I do this and I go to sleep and wake up all different times of the day and night due to my odd work hours. What makes even less sense, I have terrible time sense awake. I can’t tell the difference between ten minutes and two hours by “feel”. Somehow, I always wake up a few seconds before the alarm goes off.

  5. 1whoisconcerned Avatar

    Fear. I’m a people pleaser.

  6. OhFishSticks2345 Avatar

    I dunno but I would LOVE to stop waking up an hour before my alarm 🙄

  7. mimoon1015 Avatar

    Usually my two year old wakes me up without my consent. 

  8. Kimchi_Kruncher Avatar

    I don’t have to set my alarm for anything ever. Maybe it’s because I’m a light sleeper but I’m almost subconsciously aware of what time it is.

  9. sensitivebee8885 Avatar

    For me I think it’s an anxiety thing. I get anxious that I’m gonna sleep through or miss my alarm (despite this rarely happening because I double check that it’s set multiple times) and my body jolts up to check.

  10. bobroberts1954 Avatar

    I once owned a clock radio with an alarm so raucous I would somehow wake within a minute before it went off to starve off the harsh awakening.

  11. Zealousideal_Lie_383 Avatar

    Pavlovian response to repeated stimulus

  12. Huge_Meaning_545 Avatar

    I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. Even when working rotating shifts, I’m ALWAYS awake an hour before I need to be. Drives me insane.

  13. BlackCatFurry Avatar

    Anxiety. Any time i have an alarm i wake throughout the night approximately 4 or 5 times, get absolute dogshit sleep quality and am tired even after sleeping for 10 hours because i wake up so many times jolted awake with adrenaline by my brain being convinced i missed my alarm that’s in 6 hours and then not being able to fall alseep for a while because my heart is racing.

  14. jzemeocala Avatar

    Because of the hypothalamus… Our internal clock

  15. DTux5249 Avatar

    Because if someone has an alarm clock, chances are they have a routine, so their body’s eventually build a pretty decent circadian rhythm over time.

    If you wake up at 6am on the dime every morning, your body gets used to doing that; regardless of whether the clock sounds or not.

  16. not_sick_not_well Avatar

    So that during daylight savings you wake up and freak the fuck out thinking you slept through your alarm

  17. Peskygriffs Avatar

    Honestly I hate waking up to my alarm so much that I often wake up multiple times throughout the night hoping I’m awake before it goes off but close enough to where going back to sleep doesn’t make sense.

  18. Meowie_Undertoe Avatar

    Circadian rhythm for me

  19. clean-stitch Avatar

    For me, caffiene addiction.

  20. Ok_Salamander772 Avatar

    I actually only oversleep when I use an alarm. I naturally wake up between 5am and 6am. If I use an alarm I usually press snooze or turn it off and go back to sleep which messes with my circadian rhythm

  21. the-great-crocodile Avatar

    My theory is that alarm clocks put out a low hum prior to going off and your body recognizes this and wakes up.

  22. AstridOnReddit Avatar

    Definitely anxiety for me. I set an alarm so that I don’t stay as hyper vigilant.

    With no alarm set I’ll wake up several hours early; with an alarm I might get lucky and only wake up an hour early.

  23. EntertainmentGold807 Avatar

    Their brain is programmed to wake them; it’s a force of habit!

  24. Glittering_Suit_6511 Avatar

    There up angry grrrrr

  25. Large-Jaguar-1013 Avatar

    I have no idea and it’s so annoying man 😤