A test for you all

[louby_lou]

Here is something for you to all try, which really works. When you go to bed tonight decide what time in the morning you wnat to wake up and bang your head on the pillow that many times. For example, if you want to get up at 7.00 bang your head on the pillow 7 times and you will wake at 7. If you want to wake up at 7.30, bang your head 7 times and then 1 gentler one! I know it sounds like madness, but it does really work, let me know how you get on.

[maximo]

For those with partners, you're gonna have to do a bit of explaining when you start banging your head on the pillow !  

[jakesi]

I used to do that but with light taps on your head with your fist. and yep if worked.

[IndieSinger]

I remember trying that a few times when I was younger, louby_lou and, to my surprise, it really did work. Must be a psychological thing.

[BUNNY]

I work with a guy who is studying hypnotherapy and he told me to do that.Its meant to be a form of self hypnosis.Didn't work for me though!!

[cruthinboy]

I have done it and it does work! Never knew what to do if you wanted to get up at 7.20 though.

[smudge]

As I am an insomniac, I shall give that a try tonight. But I expect I'll wake up with a big bruise on my head, that's if I manage to sleep through 'til 12 noon tomorrow - something I haven't done since I was in my teens!

[saffstar]

That's bonkers! I'm going to try it tonight and I shall hopefully report back at 7.32 tomorrow!

[kaz35]

THAT'S a great excuse for being late for work - "I must have banged my head on the pillow eight times instead of seven by mistake." - Off to the Happy Home For The Bewildered before you can say "my head hurts"  .........

[stoo_pid]

I used to do that but all I do now is count in my head the number of hours between going to bed & when I have to get up (rather than number of the actual hour I have to get up).  Unless I'm very tired I wake up about 1-2 minutes before my alarm virtually every morning.

Smudge - if it helps, when I can't drop off straight away, here's a little technique I've used since I was a kid:  In my head l count backwards from 500.  I count fairly slowly & at the same pace throughout, approx 1 number per second.  If I get a number wrong or pause for more than 1 second I make myself start again.  Might sound like a stupid routine but I've never stayed awake long enough to make it to 1 yet...

 

[Potatoman]

ill try that. i wanna get up at 1 tomrw. Knowing my luck itll be 1 in the morning ill wake up.

Also, dont know about you, but i always seem to wake up a couple of minutes before my alarm goes off. Maybe there related? Like IndieSinger said, its probly psychological. Interesting, tho.

PM

[saffstar]

Ok, I woke up 15 minutes early, but that's remarkable - especially as I was very late going to bed last night.  Thanks louby_lou!

[Richard Head]

I've tried this myself but instead of banging my head on the pillow & banged it 7 times on the bedroom wall........I woke up 3 days later.

[smudge]

Thanks for the tip stoo_pid. The only way I can usually fall asleep, is by listening to my audio spoken word tapes. I sometimes nod off before I get to the end of side 2 - if I'm lucky!

[woofgang]

I used to be able to do this as a child but stopped being able to when I got to teen years...can't do it now

[Potatoman]

yes, it worked for me to! thats well clever.

[snook]

Yeah, it works, done it for years. Actually, it works so well that it's become second nature now - I just have to think what time I want to wake up and it happens, no routine at all really. Never fails. A tip, if you want to get up at a specific time (twenty past, ten to, something like that): imagine flying in a helicopter round Big Ben and seeing the clock's hands pointing to that exact time.  See it very vividly, and think about the time the clock is showing. It just impresses it strongly on your mind.  You'll find it works spot on.

About the original suggestion, first came across it in The Colditz Story, when the leader of the escape team (Pat Reid) was responsible for getting everyone up at 3 am for an escape attempt. He used the method and it didn't fail him, which made me think it must be dependable, since so much was riding on him waking up and he didn't have a clock.

[secretspirit]

Always used to work for me as well louby_lou, my Dad always told me to do when I didn't have an alarm clock and it never failed.

[rmaryt]

I haven't tried head banging, but what has worked for me is simply thinking the of the time when I want to waken up & I always wake up at that time.  Incidentally, even when I don't do that, I almost always waken up just before my alarm clock goes off anyway - must be something to do with body rhythms or whatever they're called.

[Ahmed]

Wow!
I drank 12 shots of brandy last night and I woke up at noon today. I can't believe it worked. You should all try it.

On Saturday I want to stay up all night so I'm going to bang my head on a nail.

[ivehaduremum]

what if you dont know what time you go to bed, how did that bloke wake up at 3 am for the escape when he had no clock and no way of knowing what time he went to bed. i can understand that a part of your brain counts the hours till you have to get up from the time you go to sleep but if there is no way of knowing the time it cant be possible