[causasui]

I went from waking up at 6AM every day for 6 years (US mil) to not setting an alarm in the last 6 (remote employee). The main thing I notice in the rare event where I have to set an alarm these days is this 15-30 minutes of heavy brain fog after waking up. In my experience it feels very similar to the sensation in your head shortly after you've taken a dose of melatonin, which I guess makes sense. It's hard to put into words but obviously we've all experienced it. I don't ever experience this sensation waking up naturally.

The end result is early morning grumpiness, in my case. I'm just in a foul mood for the first hour or two after being ripped from sleep via an alarm. I otherwise don't feel more productive or healthy.

I'm curious why this is; I assume it has to do with the natural sleep cycle. Do those chemicals metabolize in some way shortly before you wake up naturally vs waking up by an alarm where they're still present?