This is part of an ongoing series on happiness. I’m going to continue sharing everyday moments, experiences, and activities where I feel most happy. Since I believe the pursuit of happiness is something that binds humanity, and since one of the major reasons to attain financial freedom in the first place is to improve one’s happiness, I find it important to share aspects of my life where I feel like the pursuit of happiness is most successful. I hope to show through these regular insights that not only does it not take much (or any) money to improve one’s happiness but also that financial freedom provides additional opportunities (via more time) to boost happiness.
Scream! Bang! Shout! Loud! Crash!
That’s how I used to wake up five to six days a week back when I was pulling down 50 or more hours per week in the auto industry.
Not only was I waking up to an electronic device – the dreaded alarm clock – screaming at me with noise, I was waking up like this very early in the morning.
Many days, I was up before the sun.
Call me crazy but I think the sun should always be up before me. Its job of providing the world with light, warmth, and life is far more important than anything I could ever possibly do.
The way you wake up sets your whole day in motion.
Try waking up to a fire alarm.
And then try waking up to bacon and eggs.
See which one puts you in a better mood right away.
Well, waking up to a loud noise, for me, kind of ruins my day before it even starts, especially when it’s happening far earlier than I’d like it to be. Repeating this process over and over again, day after day, for years on end just compounds the issue.
A first-world problem for sure, but it’s nonetheless still a problem.
As an aside, just think of why one needs an alarm clock in the first place: the alarm clock is necessary because you’re not naturally able to wake up at whatever time you’re waking up. You’re getting up earlier than your body is telling you to, which is why you need the noise to rouse you from your sleep.
Now being able to operate without the aid of an alarm clock has allowed me to appreciate just how much happier I am with this seemingly small change in my life.
But how small of a change is it?
It’s actually huge!
While it seems like a small change at first thought – you’re just switching the setting from “on” to “off” – it requires the framework of financial freedom in order to make the change, or at least somehow being in a position where you’re working on a schedule that aligns really well with your natural circadian clock.
It costs nothing to turn off my alarm clock. At the same time, it costs everything, because I couldn’t do it without the complete control over my schedule that financial freedom offers me.
And that’s kind of what this ongoing series is all about.
People think money and happiness operate under a 1:1 ratio, whereby more or less of the former will result in an equivalent change in the latter.
But it really is the small (and cheap!) things in life that I find drive the most long-term happiness for me. These things cost very little direct money (or no money at all) but they do sometimes require the freedom I’ve bought myself upfront. It’s not the sports car or McMansion that’s going to bring you lasting happiness but instead the fundamental changes in your overall lifestyle.
Being able to wake up when my body tells me it’s supposed to is such an incredible luxury, and worth way more to me than any luxury good I could possibly think of.
I don’t like conforming to a typical schedule that’s been dictated by religious and agrarian roots, where people get up early and work/rest on predetermined days.
Why should I wake up at a time that someone hundreds of years ago determined was best for me? Why should I only rest on days that are determined by a religion I may not want any part of?
It’s all so silly. The only one who should set my schedule is me.
Check this out. You can see that a human being experiences the sharpest rise in blood pressure at 6:45 a.m. under the normal circadian biological clock.
So I’m being awoken by a sudden and loud noise precisely when my blood pressure is rising sharply? Great timing!
Moreover, the best coordination happens in the mid-afternoon. The fastest reaction time comes around 3:30 p.m. This is occurring right around the time the normal workday is starting to come to a close.
“Hey, boss! I’m peaking over here,” says the worker.
And the boss responds, “Oh, that’s great. But I don’t care. We do what we’ve always done because that’s just what we do. So it’s time to go home. See you tomorrow!”
To make matters worse for me, personally, I’m a night owl. I naturally operate under a slightly different biological clock, where everything is pushed a bit later.
For example, instead of experiencing peak muscle strength at 5:00 in the evening, I feel strongest around 8:00 p.m. So on and so forth.
Maybe you experience something similar. Maybe you’re actually a morning person, where everything is advanced a little bit. Either way, being able to wake up, go to sleep, and generally operate as your body tells you to is just such an incredible gift.
I personally find myself getting tired around 2:00 a.m. And then I tend to not be tired any longer around 10:30 in the morning.
So that’s what I do: I go to bed when I’m tired. I wake up when I’m no longer tired. Simple.
This seemingly small change in my life – ridding myself of the alarm clock – has led to a profound improvement in my happiness level. I can say without a doubt that this is one of the biggest benefits of being financially free.
Others can chase… whatever it is they’re chasing. The pie in the sky, which is perhaps hovering weightlessly near the balcony of a penthouse somewhere. I wouldn’t know. I don’t care.
But nothing puts a smile on my face like slowly waking up from a great night’s sleep, precisely when my body decides to naturally stop sleeping.
Instead of a bang and a scream, I get a warm, friendly kiss from Kiwi. She also loves waking up not long before many workers are starting their lunch breaks, at which point we go for a nice walk together. It’s not a bad way to start the day. Certainly better than a sharp rise in blood pressure and a blaring alarm, which… raises my blood pressure.
Find that waking up sans alarm clock does wonders for your happiness? Would being able to turn the alarm clock off permanently be a great luxury for you? Why or why not?
Thanks for reading.
Hey Jason,
You are incredibly lucky that you could live the life you want, instead of trade your life for money. Actually, you created the luck.
I am currently working on to turn the alarm off permanently, just reached 30% of the journey, and started to see the compound effect as things getting better here.
Best Regards,
FJ,
No doubt about that. A combination of hard work and fortune. I remember some weeks (going back a couple years) where I was working 100 hours in one week. The harder I work, the luckier I get. I find that old saying to ring true most times. 🙂
Keep on climbing over there!
Cheers.
I hate alarm clocks as well. I don’t get why the corporate world is still holding onto the idea that people need to come in at the same time to work. I wish many of them were open to remote & flex work. Even though there’s now a freelance movement, most corporate companies still hold onto the classical 9-5 model. Anyway that’s why I’m committed to building smart passive income. 🙂
Lila,
I hear that. I continue to read more and more about increasing flexibility in the workplace, but it’s still by and large holding to its old-fashioned beliefs. A lot of trends are probably working in unison here (automation, the rise of the Internet, the preference for flexibility by the current generation, more awareness, etc.) but you definitely see a move toward the “gig economy” as people choose to move away from that more traditional corporate model. Once you leave it, you’ll never go back. 🙂
Best regards!
Getting good sleep is underrated. I’ve used my alarm clock maybe five times in the last 4 years (almost) of FIRE. It is hugely satisfying to sleep until you are done.
FV,
That’s what I’m talking about!
“Getting good sleep is underrated.” – I couldn’t agree more.
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
I like the article. For me, I have found out through experience that my own body clock is tuned to a 24.5 – 25 hour day, meaning that I can easily keep pushing my wake up time out each day and this will continue until I’ve got night and day reversed. So I really like the alarm clock to help keep me into a normal daily rhythm. I also like getting up well before sunrise. Some of the best days for me have been when starting on a hike or mountain climb at 3am or even at midnight as that is when you can avoid the heat of the sun and have better snow climbing weather. I’ve always found the early morning to be special so I guess I’ve learned to be a morning person over these years.
There are also apps (which I have yet to try) that detect when you are at the end of the sleep cycle based on the phone being placed near you and then has a gradual alarm to help rouse you more naturally so you wake up feeling more refreshed. Many people swear by this.
I like to balance it out with a short afternoon nap if the day permits. When working that’s rarely possible so I suppose if I were fully retired now I’d be napping each day.
That being said I absolutely hate being rushed or stressed out in the morning, normally I like to get up at least 3 hours before I have to leave the house. The scenario you describe in this article sounds very stressful and not fun at all.
-Mike
Mike,
Man, I couldn’t be more opposite. Getting up at 3 in the morning sounds like torture. I almost couldn’t imagine something worse. But that’s what’s great about financial freedom – you’re allowed to customize your schedule to your exact needs. 🙂
Those apps sound interesting, but they wouldn’t have worked for me back when I was still working. My sleep cycle is naturally offset quite a bit, so it would still be waking me up long before I was really ready. But I think it’s a pretty great way to go for those that are more in sync with the corporate world.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers.
I totally agree with your nice article, Jason. However, I have some problems setting a healthy and socially acceptable sleeping schedule for myself. Let me explain:
The main problem is that when I sleep until I wake up for myself, in the night after I tend to get tired about 30-60 minutes later than the day before. As a matter of days, I am thus shifting from going to bed at 2:00 am to 2:30 am, 3:00 am, 4:00 am and so forth. The farther away from, lets say, 2:00 am I go to bed, the worse I feel the next morning, and the less overlap in waking time I have with beloved others.
For me, the only solution is to use a slight (i.e., still later than it usually would be) alarm in the morning such that I get tired as early as 2:00 am, in order to stay in this schedule.
Did you encounter similar (first-world) problems?
Nico,
Well, I’m not encouraging going to bed at 4 a.m. here. Like I mentioned, I typically go to bed somewhere around 2. Sometimes a little earlier. Sometimes a little later. Just really depends on how tired I am and what I’m doing. And then I tend to get up somewhere around 10 or 10:30 in the morning. But that’s just my cycle. Perhaps your cycle is different. But perhaps not, since you’re mentioning how you feel terrible if you go to bed that late. It sounds like you might not totally know what your cycle is, and that might be due to your overall schedule. It’s tough to play with things if you’re waking up early all the time.
I’ve never really felt compelled to comply with some kind of “socially acceptable” sleeping schedule, however. Is financial freedom in your early 30s socially acceptable? Is living frugally socially acceptable? Is riding a bus to go work at a luxury car dealership socially acceptable? Is a lot of things that will make you happy socially acceptable? I don’t think I’d be where I was if I were so worried about what everyone else thought. I do what makes me happy, regardless of whether or not things are socially acceptable.
Best of luck figuring out what works for you. 🙂
Cheers.
I very rarely use an alarm clock, but it’s mostly because having young kids makes them almost unnecessary. One of my kids will be up by 6:30 at least 98% of the time and the first thing they do is make sure I’m up too. I’m now conditioned to where I can’t sleep past seven even if I have the opportunity. But getting up early means I can drink my cup of coffee sooner, which is always one of my favorite parts of the day. Glad to have you back blogging again!
Chris,
I can imagine having young children makes an alarm clock somewhat unnecessary. Ha! 🙂
Yeah, everyone’s a little different in regards to when they like waking up and everything else. But I do know for sure my quality of life has improved measurably since I was able to turn off this blaring alarm clock that wakes me up about four hours too early. And I imagine I’m not the only one out there that doesn’t like to get up so early.
Thanks for dropping by. It’s great to be back!
Best wishes.
Jason, my zen friend! Another gem. I create these little mini versions of RE experience even during my corporate job right after a project is done. I tell my team and my boss my phone will be off from 8 pm till 8 am for 5 days and just sleep in for a few days and go to work late. This week of sleep energizes me before another project kicks in. These little breaks have made an otherwise stressful corporate journey tolerable.
TFR,
“…my zen friend!” I just KNEW there was a better name for this site. 🙂
That sounds like a pretty good thing you’ve got going on over there. Certainly balances things a little more. Had I had an option like that back in my old career, I might have been able to limp along a little longer. But I actually think it was a blessing, as it motivated the hell out of me to get out as soon as possible.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
I get the benefit of rare alarms between May and August, and I’ve been finding that I’ve been waking up before it goes off most mornings even when I’ve been setting one during the week. In the summer, I’m still up by 8:30 or so, which definitely did not happen when I was in high school or college.
Chris,
That’s pretty interesting. It would seem that your natural circadian rhythm is just set that way, even if it wasn’t quite that way before. My internal clock definitely doesn’t jibe with the typical ‘9-5’ routine, so it’s great that I can allow things to happen naturally. But I still contend that, no matter your cycle, waking up without a jarring, blaring noise is certainly far better than otherwise. 🙂
Cheers!
Love it Jason. I wish I could turn my alarm off permanently, it would certainly make my sleeping feel much more refreshed – because my body would be waking up when it wanted to.
Being able to decide my own timetable would be one of life’s small but important luxuries. I can’t wait to get there.
Tristan
Tristan,
Indeed. It’s exactly these small but important luxuries that, when taken in aggregate, meaningfully impact one’s overall happiness and well-being. It’s my desire to kind of hammer that point home over time with these posts. 🙂
I’m sure you’ll be there before you know it!
Best regards.
I got up today before dawn by the sound of my alarm clock, stumbled groggily into my suit, skipped breakfast as usual, and went straight to work. I’m now on my way home on the bus after sunset.
I’m ready for that goddamn financial freedom right now. I’d rather get up when I’m ready than when my bank and its customers want me up. They can go kiss my–
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
ARB,
I know how you feel, man. I used to be in that same spot not too long ago.
Getting up when you want (instead of when others want you to get up) is really a fantastic and underrated luxury. It’s just these little things that add up that, in aggregate, make a big difference in one’s personal happiness.
Keep grinding away. You’ll be there before you know it. 🙂
Cheers!
Great post! I love when I don’t have to set the alarm, waking up slowly is a wonderful experience. I get up early every day but there is something to be said for doing it because I choose to vs have to. My blog mylittlebluekayak is about the importance of choosing health, wealth and happiness. I haven’t hit financial freedom but I have a plan and I am doing it my way!
Lake Girl,
Indeed. Getting up early is very different when you’re choosing to do it (rather than because you have to do it). And getting up at, say, 7:00 a.m. is also quite different when your body is naturally rising versus being awakened by the sound of a blaring alarm. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
Jase, loving this series you’ve got here and hopefully you’ve continued it.. Being grateful is awesome :)!
Yes for me waking up with the sun is awesome and can’t think of anything better. A resounding yes on being able to go permanently without waking up without an alarm clock as well, having said this I’d probably still get up around 630 – 7 or maybe 730 as a sleep-in 😉 haha
Jef,
Thanks so much. I definitely have a number of other ideas for this series. This series is financial independence really boiled down for me. It’s those everyday experiences and moments.
Your idea of “sleeping in” is very different from mine, but it’s really all about aligning your lifestyle with what makes you happy. It’s about customizing your life to your specifications, including when you get up and when you go to bed. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.