[AdmiralAsshat]

Personally, I rarely wake up before my regular alarm goes off. However, if I have to wake up earlier than I normally do for something (dr's appt, scheduled flight, etc), my body seems to wake itself up every couple of hours out of fear that I will sleep through the alarm. So I normally wake up at 8 and sleep soundly through the night, but if I've gotta be up at 7 for some reason, even if I have an alarm set, I seem to wake up in a panic at about 4 AM, 6 AM, 6:30 AM, etc.

[stingraycharles]

Very recognizable. What I found interesting is that, even though apparently my brain can time the alarm really well, but I cannot actively rely on it: if I choose not to set an alarm, I will wake up a dozen times before, like you describe. It’s easy to explain why, but still a pity.

[csours]

Monday plant startups were the worst back when I did manufacturing plant ops.

Line start time was 6 am, so I had to check everything before 5:30, so I had to be in the plant at 4:30. Naturally I woke up at 2:30 and 3:30 for good measure. Fortunately the regular day shift ops also showed up at 6:30 or 7, so there was someone around with actual brainpower.

[city41]

I do this as well. Having to wake up to an alarm means I will almost certainly get a bad night of sleep.

For my day to day I don't use an alarm because I wake up at the correct time naturally. This probably compounds the problem for me on alarm days.

[jonplackett]

Exact same experience. Me and my stupid brain are not alone!