Why? Many Questions Answered

Some people find that, no matter what time they go to bed,
they wake at the same time every morning, quite often just
before their alarm clock sounds

Scientists believe that a person wakes at the same time
each day because of the body’s circadian rhythms, the
internal “body clock” that regulates the cyclic processes of
the body over a twenty-four-hour period These rhythms
are important in determining the sleep patterns of people
and are thought to be predominantly internal (that is, not
affected by external stimuli), being affected and largely
defined by regular activity in people, which goes some way
to explaining why people generally wake up at around the
same time every day Studies have also shown that a person’s

body temperature rises at the same time each morning,
which is also linked to waking

Waking just before the alarm is thought to be the work of the subconscious People anticipate the time they’re going to wake up, and this anticipation makes them wake just before the alarm goes off Both waking and the sound of the alarm cause stress, so the subconscious sets a time of waking just before the alarm goes
off The theory is that, if people think of an exact time they
are going to awaken and imagine themselves waking at that
time, the subconscious takes over while they’re asleep and
makes this happen Indeed, some studies have shown an increase
in certain hormones in the body that wake a person
in circumstances when they were aware of the time that the
alarm was due to go off, caused by the subconscious anticipating
of this time and prompting the body to wake itself

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