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The acronym SCAMPER has been used for decades to generate creative ideas.
The last letter, “R”, reverses the order of something usually as a way to develop something new. Examples include placing the car trunk in the front rather than the back of the vehicle, as well as a restaurant that serves dessert at the beginning of the meal. (There must be such a place somewhere?)
I recently read a BBC article about the “R” example of welfare.
Eric Verdin, MD, and president and chief executive of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, is a physician specializing in the aging process and related diseases. In his work, he is aware of the importance of sleep, especially as people get older.
Yes, genes can influence sleep patterns, as well as factors like work schedules, lighting, and Internet use. Social jet lag occurs when a person’s internal clocks become misaligned with their social clock, which is often controlled by the external influences of daily life (Straub, 2023).
Many articles about sleep hygiene suggest going to bed at the same time every evening.
“This is because we are circadian creatures,” Dr. Verdin said in a recent BBC article. “Our entire biology, from gene expression to metabolism, is in sync with the 24-hour cycle, and so I tell people, going to bed at the same time every day helps your body get really well in sync with all of that.”
However, translating that idea into reality can be difficult. Too many external obstacles can interfere.
Enter Dr. Verdin’s creative “R” idea. Instead of counting on an alarm clock to wake up, use it to go to bed. i.e. set the alarm as an audible mark Preparation To sleep.
“The idea stemmed from the fact that I wanted to wake up when my body was ready, not when the alarm went off,” Dr. Verdin tells me via email. “I worked on it by setting alarms at different times in the evening, going to bed, and figuring out how many hours I needed.”
Eventually they decided on a 10 p.m. alarm, which involved going to bed around 10:30 p.m. and then automatically waking up around 6 a.m.
This alarm clock reminder is a classic example of reverse ideation… and is probably healthier than eating dessert first.
Reference,
Cox, D. (2025, November 19). Things you can do at age 30 to improve your health at age 70. bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251118-things-you-can-do-in-your-30s-to-improve-your-health-in-your-70s
Straub, RO (2023). Health Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach (Seventh Edition). Worth Publisher.
