What does your alarm clock say about your personality?

Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, chances are that at some point you’ll rely on an alarm to make sure you get up in time. How you react to that alarm might tell you something about your character.

What’s your alarm clock personality? See if you can spo yourself (or your partner) in these descriptions:

Snooze sneaker: If you hit the snooze button over and over and over and over, it’s clear you’re not a morning person. But it also might mean you’re deadline-orientated. It sounds counterintuitive, but if you procrastinate and yet always make sure you leave yourself just enough time to get things done, you might apply the same pattern of your behaviour to your morning routine. If you’d like to find ways to be more productive in the mornings and use your repeat-snooze time better, try these tactics to “fake it until you make it”.

Clock smacker: If you bang on your snooze button every morning, you might not be getting the sleep you need at night to feel well-rested when it’s time to wake up. Maybe you suffer from insomnia or even sleep apnoea. Pressing snooze because you can’t bear the thought of starting your day on a daily basis, could also be an early warning sign of depression or anxiety. Try setting an alarm to remind you when it’s time to go to bed and wear a sleep tracker to help you learn more about your sleep patterns and how they can be improved. If you sleep just fine but still whack that alarm clock because you’re generally grumpier in the mornings, consider building in a few minutes of personal quiet time into your morning routine to make peace with the world before you have to face it.

Cautious clock-setter: If you have a clock on your night stand, one across the room and the phone alarm set, you clearly don’t trust yourself to wake up in a timely manner. We’ve all been there, freaking out about being on time in the morning. We say to ourselves, “If there’s a clock ringing across the room, I’ll get up!” But whether it actually works is a different story. If you struggle this intensely to wake up or get up, you might be sleep deprived. If this is the case, it’s important to address the root cause and to work on a winning sleep strategy.

Keen bean: If you get up earlier than you need to, sometimes even before your alarm goes off, and you feel rested and cheerful in the morning, you’re the ultimate morning person. You set the alarm early, no matter the circumstance and you’re never late. You make time to have a morning coffee, do some exercise, scroll through social media, meditate or catch up on your reading. This can lead to a stress-free and productive way to start your day. Clearly you have your sleep needs figured out – gold star for you.

Alarm clock fun facts:

• 83% of 19-29-year-olds use a phone alarm
• About 10% of people ignore their alarm the first three times
• The average time an alarm clock is set for is 7:04 am
• More than 50% of people over 55 wake up without needing an alarm
• Men are more likely to forget to set an alarm clock than women 

For more fun sleep facts and expert sleep advice, why not visit our Sleep Blog?