Have you ever awoken just a few minutes before your alarm on a day of a job interview, flight, wedding, exam, or major event and still not heard it.
On a daily basis, you can’t beat the alarm and you have to hit the snooze button.And that is because there’s a very good combination of your brain’s internal clock, hormones and emotions.
The body is on a circadian cycle that is a 24-hour waking-up or sleeping cycle and governs hormone production. This biological clock is regulated by a small region in the brain called the hypothalamus. It is sensitive to light, to daily habits and to expectations.
We know when a big thing is about to happen, we know it and your brain knows why. You prepare your body for earlier time to wake up before it happens and start your body to get to work at a time that is more imminent. This is also called the stress anticipation response.
Cortisol or stress hormone is one of the most significant hormones that are involved. Cortisol is the negative hormone that makes you wake up, is a bad thing, and it helps wake you up. Cortisol levels typically show up a few hours before your usual wake-up time, so you should be up.
But on crucial mornings, your brain starts releasing cortisol a bit earlier and in larger quantities than usual. That hormone boost leads to a more alertness and so you’ll feel more likely to wake up and you’ll wake up naturally before your alarm is going off.
Psychologists also point to prospective memory our brain’s capacity to remember future intentions. If you’ve been telling yourself, “I must wake up early tomorrow” then your brain considers that intention to be priority. The brain tracks time even when asleep, so you’re better able to wake up before the alarm.
Anxiety and excitement add to it. You are nervous about an interview and excited about a vacation and because of the emotional arousal, your brain is in a lighter stage of sleep early in the morning. So waking is easier and more natural.
Regular weekdays are different. The brain doesn’t feel the same importance to waking up in the morning if you’re not used to it every morning. And when you’re sleep-deprived by late-night scrolling, work or irregular sleeping schedule, the body is trying to get some rest, so an alarm seems to be a sudden intrusion.
To keep waking up early, sleep experts insist on a consistent bedtime and wake-up time even on weekends to keep your circadian rhythm strong and aligned with your bedtime and wake-up schedule. If you minimize screen time before bed, avoid caffeine in the evening and get good sleep, waking up frequently will be a lot easier.
Interestingly, studies suggest in this case that people who believe they can wake up for important events are more likely to have a good habit of doing so. The brain’s own internal timing system is, in fact, very accurate when properly trained.
So next time you wake up five minutes before your alarm on a big day, don’t mistake it for luck. It’s your brain quietly working overnight through hormones, biological rhythms and anticipation not luck so you don’t miss an opportunity to get to take in what’s really important.
