The Benefits of a No-Sound Alarm to Improve How You Wake Up

Nobody likes to hear the sound of their alarm clock going off in the morning. Here are six benefits to using a no-sound alarm to wake yourself up.

To this day, I am 100% convinced that the noise made by the alarm clock I used in high school and college is the most awful sound ever created. Even decades later, I still cringe at the thought of hearing it. And whether they buzz, beep, ring, or do something else entirely, my guess is many other people have similar disdain towards hearing their alarm clocks as well. Luckily, these days we have more advanced technology that can help eliminate these jarring noises from our lives (like the WHOOP 4.0 that silently and gently vibrates on your wrist). Below are six more reasons to ditch your alarm clock (or cell phone) and wake up with a no-sound alarm instead.  

Benefits of Waking Up to a No-Sound (Haptic) Alarm

1. It doesn’t wake anyone else

If you and your partner are on different schedules, there’s likely no need to get up at the same time. Even if it’s just a few minutes, we’re grateful to have that extra time in bed. A haptic feedback alarm on your wrist can subtly wake you up without disturbing others.

2. You can wear ear plugs for better sleep

One of the best things you can do to get a good night’s sleep is to eliminate all noise in your bedroom. In many cases the simplest way to do this is to put in ear plugs, but we may shy away from that out of fear of not hearing the alarm in the morning. Problem solved.

3. Decreases sleep inertia

That groggy, sluggish, foggy feeling we often experience when waking up is known as sleep inertia. A recent study out of Australia noted that the “harsh tones” of an alarm clock can exacerbate this feeling. “Sleep inertia typically lasts for up to 30 minutes after waking and has been shown to extend for two to four hours,” said Stuart McFarlane, the lead author of the study. “If you don’t wake properly, your work performance can be degraded for periods up to 4 hours,” he added.

4. Avoid the “shock” of waking up

Being jolted out of sleep by a sudden loud noise is a shock to both your brain and body. In rare cases, this has caused irregular heart beats, seizures, and even death.

5. Less stress

A study from Japan’s National Institute of Industrial Health learned that this “shock” to your system regularly increases heart rate and blood pressure. It also causes your body to release adrenaline, which triggers the “fight or flight” response from your sympathetic nervous system and creates stress.

6. Never hear that horrible sound again

Isn’t this really all you need? And it’s not just the blaring noise of old-fashioned alarm clocks--even a carefully selected cell phone melody can become extremely intolerable as well. For example, what happens when a person near you has the same ringtone on their phone that you’ve chosen for your alarm? “Hearing the alarm you use to wake up in the morning coming out of someone else’s phone at another time of day is among the banal terrors of modern life.” - Maureen O'Connor of The Cut

The WHOOP 4.0 features a silent smart alarm to wake you up at the optimal time with gentle vibrations.

WHOOP 4.0 with Haptic Alerts and No-Sound Alarm

The WHOOP 4.0 features haptic alerts, including a no-sound alarm that can pleasantly wake you at your desired time each morning. Additionally, with gold-standard sleep tracking that pinpoints which stage of sleep you’re in throughout the night, the updated WHOOP Sleep Planner can be set to trigger the no-sound alarm to vibrate when you’ve met your chosen sleep goal, or to optimize your daily recovery.