I'm with ya, Res.

If I decide I'm going to wake up at 6 AM, I'll wake up 5:50-6:10. It doesn't matter how late I go to sleep. I haven't used an alarm clock in over six years.

Res said:

I'm not positive if this is strictly our finely tuned intuition, but I have noticed a stunning internal clock in myself. I'll do things like forget to set my alarm to wake up the following morning but still wake up at the proper time despite my scattered sleep schedule, be able to predict what time it is without actually knowing the the real time, just guessing, and I suppose always being at the right place at the right time. Things just fall into my lap, and I attribute some of that "luck" to this sort of mental preparation I do at the start of each day -- visualizing what and when a life event is going to take place and how I'll act in the given circumstance. I'm always there in perfect timing and it freaks me out sometimes. Any other INFJs notice a strong internal clock in themselves?

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Are we talking about Circadian rhythm or something else, here?

During daytime, I'm good at estimating time. When I sleep, I'm rubbish at it. I wish I were able to get up in the morning when I want to, but often I don't even get up when I've set the alarm...

Or would that be me knowing what time it is, and subconsciously not wanting to get up? :tongue:

I get up before the alarm. Some might be habit. Do you see something more here?

I can't say with confidence that I would be able to wake up without an alarm clock. But, during the day I usually have a pretty good idea what time it is at any given time, within a 10-minute margin of error.

But then, I look at the clock frequently throughout the day, so maybe it's a learned skill.

I have amazed people at times with my ability to perfectly count out a minute without looking; apparently I time my seconds very very accurately.

Well anyone can train their body to wake up at a certain time. However, being able to predict what time it is on a whim is something else. I'd say I have a strong internal clock as well. Also a strong sense of direction. I usually always know which way I am facing without thinking about it.

This reminds me of a (short) conversation with my EX years ago. That was a short conversation due to her being an S Type probably. I pushed the boundaries a little past from waking up at a certain when you want to. I tried to get to indulge in the concept of a long distant internal clock. Like from 10 years ago or something one example I used was What if? you was thinking 10 years ago of what you would be doing 10 years from now? And 10 years later on the same day you reflect back as to what you was doing 10 years ago.
I like to use the internal clock to stop my microwave from going BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP when it is done, so annoying. I usually wonder towards the microwave within 3 seconds before it goes off.
I agree anybody can have a habit of waking up at a certain time everyday but can everybody wake up at different times when they need to?

I don't have an extremely structured life, so I don't need an internal clock. I use the alarm only if I need to get up a certain time. No, don't say it! "Lucky you!" I'd rather have a more structured life! At any rate, I work evenings. There is one thing for certain, I normally still need to sleep 8 hrs. a day. I think my brain wears me ragged! lol. I, as well, am pretty good about knowing what time of day it is, or close to it.

PS I read something somewhere a long time ago about internal time clocks. Shoot right now my mind is so full that I can't quite pull that file out. Must be in the bottom drawer way behind & below all the other files. Seems to me there was a physiological/scientic explanation (or something of that nature)...

I can do this, too. It's pretty cool.

Btmangan said:

I'm with ya, Res.

If I decide I'm going to wake up at 6 AM, I'll wake up 5:50-6:10. It doesn't matter how late I go to sleep. I haven't used an alarm clock in over six years.

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I can't.

Yay, I'm special!

Seriousely, I have NO concept of time what so ever, I'm not sure I even really belive in it sometimes.

I live my life around a series of alarms, time myself to things like TV shows, when the kettle boils, ect. I lose a lot of time in the bathroom, or to daydreaming. I am not actually good at reading a normal clock face either, so I use a digital watch (12hour not 24, not too good with that either). Without it I'd be totally lost.

It's also fun when you read the clock wrong (2 as 5, or 2 as 12), and get confused about what time it is, and end up really late or early.

If I am asked to deal with a linier and artifical structure, I struggle. Days of the week, months, years, times tables, written language...I don't do well with sequences.

To be honest though this is all typical dyslexic stuff, my brain is just wired differently to most peoples.

I have a good sense of time. I often check my watch throughout the day, but even when I'm not looking at the time, I give incredibly accurate guesses, down to the minute.

im always awake before my alarm

Now that I think on it some more, I do have a good sense of time... just not when I'm unconscious. If I tell myself 'I need to get up at 6 am tomorrow' without setting an alarm clock, I will subconsciously panic and worry that I'll wake up too late, and as a result I'll wake up at 11 pm instead.... then 1 am... then 3 am... then 5 am... and I get out of bed and feel like shit.

If I just let the alarm clock 'do the heavy lifting' in these situations I sleep more soundly.

my biological clock shifts all the time
and i also have a bad sense of direction

sometimes i fall asleep right when the sun rises
and sometimes i feel refreshed and ready to get out of bed when the sun rises
and lunch and dinner hour are also moving about
if i wait till i'm hungry, sometimes i don't eat as well as i should, so i prefer to stick to a (flexible) schedule

I relate to this. So, so, so much. I wake up randomly and guess the time and it's correct 9/10 times to the minute! And I relate to the alarm thing as well.

this happened to me today - someone asked me what time it was. last time i checked the time was 6pm, and i had guessed 6:55 but then i thought "hm no wait that seems a few minutes off, i think 6:50... no 6:51"

My internal clock is pretty accurate, too. Once I had a girlfriend that got a bit troubled when she realised I could tell the time with an error margin of maximum two minutes, without ever looking at my watch.

But hey, since you are all so nice, I'll let you in on a big little secret: I am The Time Maker. I am the One Creature who actually makes time pass. There, I said it. I can die in peace now.

I'm so clumsy. I have awful handwriting. Terrible spacial awareness. Sometimes I can't even walk straight.

However when it comes to temporal awareness I've discovered that I've got that department pretty well covered. Most of the time I'm able to guess the time within around 10 minutes. I can tell myself before bed, "I need to wake up at 6am...I need to wake up at 6am" and I can wake up at around 5:55ish with no alarm. Sometimes it gets annoying though on the weekends or holidays and I can't go back to bed after I wake up that early. I teach self-contained elementary and there are many times when I think in a second, "All right 15/30/40/etc min, I can do this activity in that amount of time with this group...go!" and be just about right on the spot. My friends make fun of me for being freakishly punctual too, heh. Over all I like it. I don't like wearing watches so there ya go.

Maybe it's an Ni dominant thing?