I have one of those cool sunrise/sunset alarm clocks, which I like very much except for the bright red numbers on the display which–despite being turned down to the lowest setting–have been screaming into my eyeballs all night every night for years.

About two weeks ago I figured out how to turn the time display off completely.

This has been an interesting experiment in not knowing the time when I’m in bed. I just have to guess based on how many chapters I’ve read and whether or not my husband has already fallen asleep with his laptop propped open, mid-email.

Similarly, I’ve had to guess about the mornings based on sunlight coming through the edges of the air conditioner and how many kids I’ve heard in the hallway.

I seem to be pretty consistently getting up between 6 AM and 7 AM, although one day I slept in until 7:45 AM and this morning I accidentally got up at 4:55 AM (I was very confused by the fact that it was so dark, and I was convinced–in my half-asleep state–that it was the sun that was late rather than me that was early.)

The best part is the drop in my sleep-related stress level. If I don’t know what time it is I can’t even begin to construct an anxious thought related to sleep and the possibility of not getting enough of it.

Overall, I think this has been an improvement to my life and I intend to keep the numbers turned off even when I need to start setting the alarm again in the fall.