Waking Up at Separate Times

histronic

My girlfriend and I spend the night together often, but our classes start at different times in the morning. The problem with this is we both like to sleep in on the days we can, but our alarm clocks wake us both up whenever they go off for our classes. Any suggestions on how we can each wake up at our desired times without disturbing the sleep of the other?

Esh

Unless one of you is wearing earplugs, I don't see how this is possible. Doesn't the act of simply getting out of bed wake the other up? Much less having an alarm go off? When the one alarm goes off, just roll back over and go back to bed.

histronic

Yea I kind of thought I was chasing butterflies without a net on this one, just wasn't sure if anyone had any tips or anything like keeping separate alarm clocks on separate sides of the bed or something

Esh

histronic wrote: »

Yea I kind of thought I was chasing butterflies without a net on this one, just wasn't sure if anyone had any tips or anything like keeping separate alarm clocks on separate sides of the bed or something

I imagine if it's loud enough to wake you, it'll be loud enough to wake the person who less than a foot away from you.

ceres

My husband and I have alarm clocks that sound very different. I just got used to it. Something in my brain knows only to wake up for mine, and I don't even hear his go off. Up side: I'm not bothered by his alarm going off. Down side: I can't use it as a backup alarm.

Unfortunately, he's too light a sleeper for the reverse to be true, but it might be something to try.

VisionOfClarity

ceres wrote: »

My husband and I have alarm clocks that sound very different. I just got used to it. Something in my brain knows only to wake up for mine, and I don't even hear his go off. Up side: I'm not bothered by his alarm going off. Down side: I can't use it as a backup alarm.

Unfortunately, he's too light a sleeper for the reverse to be true, but it might be something to try.

I'm a super light sleeper. My boyfriend has an alarm that sounds totally different from mine and he keeps is low on his side of the bed and within arms reach. As long as he gets the alarm very quickly I don't notice it.

Noquar

Try a device that has a "smart" alarm. It wakes you up gradually with various nature or soothing sounds before it eventually launches into your designed alarm sound. If she is far enough away this should wake you up before it gets too loud and bothers her.

ihmmy

My ex and I had the different-times-thing going on too, but we were both able to roll over and fall back asleep after the other was out of the bedroom

kuhlmeye

Yeah, my girlfriend and I have the same thing going on, except its work for me and class for her. You pretty much just have to be able to roll over and go back to sleep if you wake up to the alarm.

Improvolone

Waking up at the same time every day is an awesome habit, to hell with the changing schedule!

Ursangus

I'd say ask your girlfriend what it is that wakes her up when you do. If it's just the alarm clock, after time your body will subconciously adapt to awake at a designated time, and you'll need the alarm clock less and less. Same could be said for her. Coincidentally, setting my phone's alarm to just vibrate is enough to wake me up, but not the other person.
If it's the act of you getting out of bed, sadly, I have no suggestions. Best of luck all the same!

Improvolone

Use your phone as an alarm and put it under your pillow?

Sarcastro

Go to bed early. Wake up and fuck. Whoever gets to stay in bed after wins all the blankies.

Shogun

This sounds like a problem that could somehow be solved with an ingenious product that would make someone a mint.

Scrublet

Improvolone wrote: »

Waking up at the same time every day is an awesome habit, to hell with the changing schedule!

I strongly agree.

tehmarken

Agreeing with the "just wake up early every day" cuz then you can get shit done.

Using a phone on vibrate for an alarm might work too, under your pillow or close to your body in some way.

Mim

If one of you can sleep through TV, then i'd suggest someone use the TV as an alarm and the other use something else as an alarm that the other could sleep through.

Eeveelution

Scrublet wrote: »

Improvolone wrote: »

Waking up at the same time every day is an awesome habit, to hell with the changing schedule!

I strongly agree.

Good sleep habits = productive people. Plus if you guys get up early enough, Nothing gets your day off on the right foot like a quickie.

jamesra

Yeah. This is just one of those things; my wife has a commute (I mostly work at home) and a much earlier start to her day than I do. Different alarms help, at least to tune out the one that isn't "yours" but even still, its not perfect. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, and her alarm still wakes me up a couple of times a month; it doesn't help that we're both serious snooze people. Its not so much advice as an observation: you'll adapt.

Its much worse for my wife, honestly; when she has a day off and I don't, my much louder and more obnoxious alarm invariably wakes her while she's trying to get a chance to sleep in.

Fats

Go to bed earlier and neither of you will need an alarm. :P

Iruka

Getting used to it is probably the best way, people can sleep through trains rattling their house if they live in a place for a while. If you can manage two alarms that are non buzzer, and wake up to those, that might be easier. My roommate in college and I both used our cellphones. I stopped paying attention to her ring tone just by habit.

Heres an overly complex, time consuming, over the top solution that may not work.

1- Buy 2 really cushy pair of DJ style headphones like these
2-break off the head band so you have two loose little speakers
3- Open up your pillow so you can get to the fluff. Sew these in so they are flush with the inner wall of the pillows outer casing, round about where you usually put your ear, on both sides of the pillow.
4- let the headphone cord come out of the pillow then sew it back up.
5-Attach MP3 player with alarm to headphones and put that in your pillowcase

Because noise canceling headphones are usually kind of directional, you would then have an alarm pillow that would pump a song into your ear at wake up time, but probably a whisper to your partner. Especially if your room has a bit of white noise like a fan.

I have no idea if that would work, but I did used to put my dislodged headphone in my pillow as a kid, to listen to music as a fell asleep without an annoying head band on. I never tried to make the headphone stay reliably in place, though, and my pillow had a zipper to get to the fluff.

iMatt

I get up way earlier than my wife and I use a special deaf persons alarm clock (I am not deaf I'd like to point out!). It's slips under the pillow and vibrates to wake me. However even though she sleeps through this I find the act of showering / dressing still wakes her

harry.timbershaft

ceres wrote: »

My husband and I have alarm clocks that sound very different. I just got used to it. Something in my brain knows only to wake up for mine, and I don't even hear his go off.

This. I was working a cushy government contract where I went into the office about 9AM and my ex-wife was in the military and had to be at her unit for PT at 5:30AM. We used one alarm clock with two different alarms set that had drastically different tones. The alarm clock was on her side of the bed, as she had to wake up first, and would simply turn her alarm off. I just got used to sleeping through her alarm - took a couple of weeks.

Sarcastro wrote: »

Go to bed early. Wake up and fuck. Whoever gets to stay in bed after wins all the blankies.

...also this.

Underdog

Fats wrote: »

Go to bed earlier and neither of you will need an alarm. :P

That's one option. I've actually gotten to the point where I don't need alarms at all. I just naturally wake up when I know it's about time. But then I'm a really light sleeper so maybe that helps.

Pinch-a-Loaf

They make vibrating alarm watches. No idea who makes them or what they cost, but Google does. Should do the trick if you think that would be enough to wake you up.

streever

I'd say go for something that vibrates, but if it is strong, it will probably bother the other person too. Not as bad as a jarring alarm.

too, if you can consistently get up at the same time, you may find you don't need one anymore. I haven't used alarm clocks in about a decade.

Cajiggers

What you are looking for is a targeted alarm clock. The clock sends noise only to a small targeted area, which would be your side of the bed.

Get one for her side of the bed too.

DoraB

How big of an issue is waking up when the other alarm goes off? Is there something preventing either of you from going, "Oh hey, have a good day, see you later, smooch, snore"? Personally I'm the type of person who can't really get back to sleep once I'm woken up late enough in the morning, though I find laying in bed barely awake snuggled up in blankets just as restful as actual sleep sometimes.

But if you can, yeah, adjust and just get up whenever the other person's alarm goes off. I know you're taking classes and need your sleep, but as long as you're not going to bed stupidly late (IE, three hours before you have to get up) it'll be uncomfortable for a while, but doable. Make a romantic thing about it; have the person who DOESN'T have class run and get coffee and breakfast or something while the other person is showering and getting ready, so the two of you have some extra time to just chill out and enjoy breakfast together. Even if it means the other person gets up a little earlier too to let this happen. Sleepy morning chit-chat over coffee and breakfast, or even just coffee and tv, is great "couple" time.

E.Coyote

streever wrote: »

I'd say go for something that vibrates, but if it is strong, it will probably bother the other person too. Not as bad as a jarring alarm.

too, if you can consistently get up at the same time, you may find you don't need one anymore. I haven't used alarm clocks in about a decade.

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