In trying to improve my disordered sleep, at least my self-impression of it, I set my smart watch to wake me at 6:30 each morning a few months ago. It has buzzed my left wrist daily to which I sit up, sometimes stretch, more often not, then head into the bathroom for habitual dental hygiene. I've only resisted the vibration once or twice and virtually always have been upright before the reminder turns itself off about 30 seconds later. Being truly smart, this watch adapted itself overnight with no help from me to the corrected springtime skipping the 2AM-3AM overnight interval. It left 6:30 as my wake time. My circadian rhythm did not. My inner sense called it 5:30AM, leaving me with a mixed message. As my sleep pattern becomes consistent with early awakening, I am often awake, or at least can perceive the clock and watch when I glance at them, at 5AM. Not having to get up then I don't, but at least I sense that I am awake. Some sleep experts would posit that I should arise. This morning the vibration may not have truly awoken me, but I felt a long way from arising. That's probably a good thing, one of the few objective measures that I have that my sincere attempts at predictable times in bed have created some physiologic adaptation. Visiting a Caribbean island on Atlantic Time would have been a better way to assess the same adaptation, but for now, I think that my sleep may be less disordered than I perceive.
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