Jessica Bumpus, digital editor, explains that using an alarm clock “has given me a sense of control and calm”
Swapping her phone for an analog alarm clock helped Bumpus cut morning stress, sleep better and start each day with a clearer, calmer mindset.
Looking for a simple way to reduce stress and anxiety? An old-school, analog alarm clock could be the solution to all your problems.
A digital habit that fuels anxiety
For most adults in today’s smartphone-obsessed world, our cellphone is the first thing we look at in the morning to turn off our alarm and the last thing we touch at night to set it again.
Our phones can, of course, work wonders in an endless number of ways. But by keeping them in our pockets or handbags, we are always connected, always reachable and always “switched on.” For good and for bad.
Notifications - and stress - before breakfast
When you reach over to turn off your phone’s alarm at who knows what time in the morning, you are inevitably bombarded with notifications that have built up overnight. For some people, such as CNN digital editor Jesica Bumpus, your device might even automatically inform you of your screen time, which might not be good news.
With a million things on your mind the moment you wake up, that makes for a stressful start to the day, as confirmed by wellness experts, including mental health and well-being coach Lily Silverton.
“When you wake up first thing, the ideal is to wake up and spend a little bit of time within your own mind before you are bombarded with everything else in the world that is going on,” Silverton explains. “Give yourself a chance to adjust to the waking world.”
I love all these new vertical consumer electronics.
— Raphael Schaad (@raphaelschaad) April 5, 2025
Just set up my Arc Alarm Clock — analog hands (but digitally-set alarm), hefty feel, tactile knobs, and it wakes you up with a mechanical chime — the entire object is totally overengineered 🤯
Phone stays out of bedroom now. pic.twitter.com/Nm6rbLBgME
The case for analog
An analog alarm clock, however, does exactly what it says on the tin and does not immediately influence your thoughts for the rest of the day. Bumpus switched from her phone alarm to an old-school alarm clock around 10 years ago and has never looked back: “It does not fill my mind with chatter, bad news and deadlines before the day has begun.”
According to the digital editor, the “time, space and separation from her phone” is helping her sleep better and, in turn, making her “feel younger.”
“My first utterance of the day is no longer blaspheming about an email and feeling my blood boil,” Bumpus says. “I find myself gently considering what I might have for breakfast. Which has given me a sense of control and calm.”
With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, a new (old) alarm clock might just be the perfect gift you never knew you needed.
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