Ticking Clocks – Unhealthy or Soothing?

The question of whether ticking clocks disturb sleep or even have a calming effect divides opinion.
Again and again, you hear from people who believe that any noise in the bedroom spells the end of healthy sleep. In particular, the constant ticking makes them nervous, restless, and keeps them from sleeping. You can almost feel time passing, which puts them under even more pressure. And the fact that good sleep is important for health is nothing new...

This view is also often expressed in health forums. People who have trouble falling asleep are advised there to remove noisy clocks from the room, as they cause unnecessary stress and are distracting.
But there are also others who say they could never fall asleep again without the steady ticking of a clock. There is even a clock trick for getting babies and puppies to sleep. According to this, placing a ticking clock next to or in the bed helps promote falling asleep and staying asleep. So for many people, it is silence that is more disturbing, and the regularity of sound helps them find inner calm.
It is probably the power of habit that makes us prefer one or the other.

One thing is certain – there is help for everyone!

For those who like noise, there are of course plenty of ticking clocks for the home with a second hand, as well as noisy pendulum clocks that provide a steady tick.

Quieter, on the other hand, are clocks without a second hand. But you do not have to do without them, because there are also clocks with the so-called “sweeping second”. This moves the second hand across the dial in five small steps and therefore seems to “sweep” across it (French: seconde trotteuse). In contrast to the “jumping second” (French: seconde morte), where the second hand advances one second in a single leap, clocks with a sweeping second are very quiet. Seiko, in particular, is known for silent clocks, and Jacques Farel for silent children’s clocks.

Radio-controlled clocks are usually quiet too, since they run on an electronic movement that normally no longer produces ticking. But caution is needed here, because there are also nostalgic radio-controlled clocks that produce artificial ticking.

Otherwise, digital clocks and alarm clocks are of course always an option if you want to avoid ticking altogether. In some cases, it is even possible to project the time onto a wall, which is a great alternative, especially for children.