Issue NO.1

Lifestyle

The Alarm Clock

Lifestyle refers to the way we live our daily lives, our habits, routines, traditions, and choices that shape how we work, eat, socialise, and rest. Over the years, our lifestyles as Africans has transitioned from natural rhythms and communal patterns to a more structured and technology driven pace.

Long before alarm clocks jolted people awake, our communities lived in harmony with nature’s timetable. From the first light of dawn, with roosters’ kokoliko crows echoing through the air and the gentle stirrings of village life, nature always offered soft cues to rise and begin the day.

These organic timekeepers connected people to the land, to each other, and to a sense of shared purpose. The rooster’s crow did not just signal time to wake up. It announced the beginning of the day. A time to start lighting fires, drawing water, tending to fields, and starting the morning meal. Life was slower, grounded and far less rigidly timed.

The Great Shift

With modernisation, Africa saw the rise of mechanical and later digital alarm clocks. Brought in through global trade and technological change, alarm clocks came as a symbol of progress and precision. Alarms not only helped people wake up on time but also allowed them to plan their days, stay on schedule, and organise their lives with greater efficiency.

At first, these ticking and buzzing devices were a novelty, mostly seen in urban centres, among people with office jobs or school children. But as African economies expanded, alarm clocks and eventually phone alarms became a part of our everyday life, replacing nature’s wake up calls with a new, insistent urgency.

Adapting to New Schedules

In the past, daily life followed the sun, waking with dawn, sleeping with nightfall, and allowing for flexibility if someone needed rest. Meals were moments of family gatherings, usually on a floor mat with small gatherings of people eating on the same plates and heated conversations happening around.

Most conversations were around the packed day individuals had. For the younger ones, most times their role was to just sit there listening to one of the elders' tales of life back then.

Back to the alarms, which have helped us set a fixed starting line. Whether you feel rested or not, when an alarm insists, it’s time to move. This change has made it easier for people to catch buses, arrive at jobs on time, and stick to schedules, a necessity in this fast paced world.

Alarms have also brought challenges, like rushed mornings, anxiety, and the stress of constantly chasing time.

With our alarms on portable devices, it is easy for siblings in separate rooms to have completely different schedules and navigate their day as they please. Taking away some time windows of interaction among siblings.

A Selected Tone

Today, we have the luxury of selecting a ringtone to wake us up. Depending on how you would like to be woken up. With an alarm, you can choose to be startled or gently woken up by its tone.

Our days are now more predictable, efficient, and synchronised, a sign of how Africa’s lifestyle has adapted to global expectations. Yet perhaps there is still wisdom to draw from the past, when mornings were gentler, slower, and more communal.

Modern African lifestyles now blend the best of both worlds with digital alarms meeting modern demands, while hosting natural sounds for those who choose to wake up with the deeper peace that nature brings. After all, even the most sophisticated alarm clock can never truly replace the ancient, comforting echo of a kokoliko or the gentle moo of cat.