*Nikki*

For some reason the clock in my bedroom, the one that has my alarm, I always set like 15 minutes faster then all the other clocks in the house.

It is like it reassures me when I see it is "7:00 AM" that it is only really "6:45 AM" so therefore I actually have more time to sleep in and hit the snooze button. It is like I am messing with my own head.

I was just wondering if anyone else does this?

Sp0rAdiC

I've tried, but I always just wake up and say, "Meh, I have an extra 15 minutes on top of my normal snooze time, more sleep for me." and go back to sleep. So I find it's best to just set your alarm as late as you possibly can. I'm out of the house in 5-10 minutes after I wake up almost every day.

OpieCunningham

Once I got out of school, I killed my time manipulation tactics.

But I certainly did the 15 minutes push - sometimes even 30 minutes.

Another tactic, back when I had to get up at 6:00am for school was to use one of those dual-alarm clocks. I'd set one for 3:00am and the other for 6:00am. When I was woken at 3:00am, I'd have the distinct and glorious pleasure of realizing that I still had 3 hours more sleep available. Such a feeling is almost better than sex. I highly recommend it for anyone who cherishes sleep.

runtuff

I once knew someone who set their clocks ahead quite a bit. The theory was it took her 30 minutes to get to work so she set her clock ahead that amount. So if she had to be to work at 8am, when her home clock said 8:00am she knew she had to leave home to make it to work in time. Too funny, but it did work, drove me bananas when I visited her, but that is another story.

maleficent

22 minutes ahead. and I set the alarm for odd times, like 5:57 - so it forces me to do the math on what time it is really ( I could just lift my arm and look at my watch, but I don't often think that far ahead)

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MageB420666

I don't do it. mainly cause it takes me at least five minutes to get back to sleep so I just see it as wasting 5 perfectly good minutes of being asleep. plus it does nothing to change the actual time that you have to wake up. I would just rather sleep until I have to get up then getting up just to have the feeling of realizing that I get to sleep a little bit more.

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Averett

I do it. So that clock runs on "faux" time. So when my bedroom alarm clock says 4:40, it's really faux 4:40, which is really fun to say

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basmoq

I don't bother, cause I can do math too fast in my head, even when sleepy, I just get up when my 4 alarm clocks force me to...

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SaltPork

I used to set mine 18 minutes ahead. I always had a harder time with subtracting the 8 minutes and then you throw another ten in on top of it.....well, by the time I was done trying to figure out whether or not I was oversleeping, I was usually wide awake with about 3 minutes to spare.

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Diamond

I got ALL my clocks 8 minutes ahead, just because I'm always late. Not sure why 8 minutes, but it works... I don't do the snooze thing, getting woke up once is enough

CoachAlan

I set my alarm clock fast, and the reason is simple. Sure, I know it's not the actual time, but on the mornings when I'm really groggy, I don't remember that the alarm is about six minutes fast.

By the time I'm awake enough to realize I'm looking at an inaccurate time, it's too late. I've already successfully tricked myself into getting up on time.

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Ella

Absolutely not. I need to know exactly what the time is so my life isn't distorted more than it is already.

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denim

Yes, I do exactly that. And I keep it well out of reach from the bed.

gremlinx8

All of my clocks usually read different times, but almost all of them are ahead. Even knowing that they're ahead- I still set my alarm for earlier than I need to get up... and I never hit the snooze- so I always have extra time and nothing to do.

CinnamonGirl

Yep, my alarm clock's 12 minutes fast. I also set it about 15 minutes earlier than I actually have to get up... It doesn't really work anymore, but it's nice to hit the snooze bar a few times.

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KellyC

I do this in when school starts, although, I don't think of it as fooling myself, I like to think of it as giving myself extra time

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xepherys

I do it... it's sad... *sigh*

hilbert25

Do it, for much the same reason as others, so I have to do the math and actually figure out what time it really is.

Supple Cow

After years of living an 8-minute drive away from my high school and then living a 10-minute walk away from my classes as a first-year in college, I'm trained to leave no earlier or later than 10 minutes before class is supposed to start. My magic formula is to set the clock to whatever time will show me that I have 10 minutes before class when I really have however long it actually takes to get there. Unfortunately, my commute to work on alternate days is twice as long, so my clock is about 25 minutes fast of real time.

I never thought of doing that. When I visited Japan, I was in bed really early every night and I would wake up with the sunrise, orient myself for a minute, and then proceed to have the best 2-3 hours of sleep in my life before starting each day. My homestay family told me that "second sleep" is the most restful, but it never occurred to me to interrupt my sleeping time to have it if I was already going to get less than 8 hours. Maybe I'm not getting your meaning, especially since you didn't say what time you used to go to sleep.

I also remember reading something about delta sleep (the time when your body repairs itself) coming sometime in the 6th hour of your sleep. That's supposedly why your body aches and you feel bad when your sleep gets interrupted in the middle (before delta sleep) even though you get enough hours all together. I wonder how this could work in conjunction with "second sleep." I think I'll try it tonight!

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Paq

hnmm
i haven't read any responses, but this is my take on clocks:

1. My bedroom clock is 2 hrs and 34 minutes fast. That way, i wake up early, have to think about what time it is, then hit snooze three times and i'm good to go. it's just confusing

2. my car clock is 17 minutes fast. that way, i can look at it, see 1:17 and know that i will arrive in pineville at 1:27 real time. it's where i used to work

3. My watch is 10 minutes fast and has no hands, that way, i have to think abuot what time it is and i can think i'm running late, so i'll be early. it is also 5 minutes less than the time between classes in college.

4. My bathroom clock randomly speeds up and slows down...i have no idea why, but it makes for an interesting morning....

lots of fun

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Destrox

I use two alarm clocks, one is set faster then the other.

As for all of you who set your clocks ahead only so you can hit snooz.. whats the point?????? I really dont get it.. just set it for when you want to wake up, and get that extra sleep w/out interuption.

I often (4/7 days of the week on avg) wake up 5-10 minutes before my alarms ever go off. Its weird, and I dont know how my body knows what time it is, but it does that. Often when I wake up on my own like that, I feel more awake those days.

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MrFlux

I just get out of bed when my alarm goes off. Get some willpower!

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xepherys

Must... resist... willpower...

amonkie

"fast" or "ahead" is all relative. All my clock and my watch are 8 minutes faster than the clocks at work, 5 minutes ahead of classes at one campus, and the same time as the clock at the second. It'd be too much work to be ahead for the third one, so I know that as long as I'm there by the time on my watch, I'm either on time or early for every place.

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spindles

I have a small child. The requirements for an alarm clock have completely disappeared in my house. He is always hungry before I would normally get up

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OpieCunningham

I never considered any mystical or otherwise significant aspect. Essentially, I discovered this tactic from two distinct experiences. The snooze concept, whereby you set your alarm a bit early (or fool with the correct time) so that you can enjoy a few minutes extra sleep, was always nice. But then one night I woke up and I thought the alarm had gone off and I was terribly disappointed that my sleep time had been so seemingly brief. I looked at the clock and it was still the middle of the night. So it dawned on me at that moment that I would be able to sleep for a few more hours! As my head hit the pillow it was one of the most pleasant experiences in my life.

So I duplicated it manually by means of a dual alarm system.

I was never awake, per se, during the brief interruption. It's only a semi-awareness, half-second of time to kill the first alarm. But I was able to achieve the same feeling as my head hit the pillow.

Ah ... man ... I love sleep.

Dengar

i dont set the actual time ahead. but i usually set my alarm 15-20 minutes before i really need to get up so i can snooze it.

over summer i had a three snooze system going. i had to be at work at 8am. set my alarm for 7:18. snooze 3 times at 9 minutes apiece. 15 minutes to get to work.
got to work about 5-10 minutes late everday though. luckily my boss set the punch clock ahead 15 minutes just cuz we were all lazy asses.

The Phenomenon

Hehe -- yeah I do it too. But by 5 or so minutes though.

Kepage23

Curse the Snooze Button!!! I keep mine set right, but my clock has a dual alarm and is set across the room. I have one alarm set 15 minutes to a half hour apart. eventually I end up snozing both alarms. That usually gets me up though. I used to have one of those loud old fashon windup alarm clocks, but that stopped working when I threw it across the room. Damn, that thing was anoying.

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doodlebird

yes. our bedroom clock is 12 or 13 minutes fast. the GF just asked me the other day why it was like that. i didn't have a good answer. i told her if she wanted to change it, go right ahead. but she didn't. she just left it. we have no reason now other than sloth. or indifference.

but like spindles, we have no need for an alarm. we have a 23 pound alarm who wakes us every day around 6 or 7.

we're always late anyway (always have been) but at least now we can blame it on the kid.

Rdr4evr

Yeah, I always keep mine 20 minutes fast. My brain is programmed that way now and I cant change it.

bermuDa

8 minutes fast... but my alarm(s) are set on my computer which are accurate. That way I supposedly wake up when my alarm goes off, look at the clock next to my bed and say "oh I have less time than I thought"

I'm living a lie!!

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Kalnaur

The wife sets them ahead of time, but not even the apocalypse would awaken me. I can sleep through death metal blaring in my ear, so I can sleep through anything.

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ShaniFaye

Mine is 28 minutes fast, its been that way for 18 years ha ha ha

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Baldrick

I used to set my alarm clock ahead as well, but I found I still laid in bed for far too long after hitting the snooze button so much. And when I finally did drag my arse out of bed, I was really tired and dopey.

A couple of years ago, the power went out at night and turned off my alarm. When I woke up - pretty much the time I should have - I found that I jumped out of bed and actually felt refreshed! I spent the next month or so developing my internal alarm clock, and now I can get up when I want and feel fully refreshed (95% of the time, anyway). I would suggest that to anyone!

I read an article on this a while ago, and it suggested that if you let yourself wake up when you are supposed to (using your internal body clock) then your body adjusts itself so it is fully awake when it's time to be. Circulation, brain, heart... All slowly start waking so you are ready to go when it's time to be. If you use artificial means, it takes most people time to get fully awake because you are essentially starting right from scratch.

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bookerV

I keep all my clocks on time. If I set it ahead then I know it's ahead and I just ignore it until it is the real time I am supposed to get ready. However I don't usually have a problem getting up on time. It's all about the willpower. I like to get to work early so I can leave early...

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splck

My clock is always set to the correct time. It seems silly to me to set them ahead, but that's just me.

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Destrox

Intresting, that would then proove my previous statement of:

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maleficent

I tried that approach once but my aim got really really good at throwing whatever was closest to the bed and hitting the snooze alarm.

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absorbentishe

No clock in my house is correct. I don't even know which one is the closest. My alarm is about 10 minutes fast. At one point in life, I had my alarm 45 minutes fast. It's a false sense of security, but worked for mr. sleepy head.