I have read many clues for better sleeping. “Hide the clocks” sounded weird but I have tried it for a week and I find it very helpful and fun.
David DiSalvo, science writer and editor on sleeping better
6. Clockwatching.
Though it’s hard not to do, don’t look at your clock when you wake up during the night. In fact, it’s best to turn it around so it’s not facing you. When you habitually clockwatch, you’re training your circadian rhythms the wrong way, and before long you’ll find yourself waking up at exactly 3:15 every night.
Matthew Edlund, M.D in his Psychology Today blog “The Power of Rest”
1. Clockwatching. You wake up, then look at the clock to know how much time you have left to sleep, right?
Wrong. Time rules life, particularly the important 24 hour rhythms that make heart attacks five times more common on Monday morning and set up early morning disasters like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl (see my "Body Clock Advantage" for how to use those clocks profitably.) So don't be surprised if you wake every morning at 3 AM, because looking at the clock entrains those 24 hour rhythms.
I got to thinking about the fact that when I was still living at home, I did not have a clock I could easily check if I awoke during the night. I didn’t feel too disoriented or need to check the time. Yes, during school years, I would either be awakened by an adult or the noise in the awakening house or I might have an alarm set.
Not only the two articles linked above but also my hypnosis instructor felt that we can fairly easily tell ourselves to awaken when we want to. Now, in very intense darkness, I feel like a kid again. Just going to bed and not knowing or caring about the day past or the day coming, just sleeping.