Years ago, I was gifted an alarm clock that changed my mornings forever:
It mimics the rising sun which is so helpful for dark mornings, especially throughout midwest winters.
What I love the most is that you can set it to not make any noise! This makes for a completely different wake-up experience than when there’s something blaring first thing in the morning.
When I first got this alarm clock, I used both sound and light to wake-up until I trusted my sleepy-self to respond to the light.
The light starts out dim and slowly brightens itself to full intensity at the time you want to be up.
For example, if your alarm is set for 6:00am, the light alarm clock will begin brightening around 5:30 and be fully bright by 6:00am.
There are multiple settings and options for customization including brightness levels, volume levels, and whether you want to wake up to the sound of birds, a babbling brook, or the radio.
There are other options at different price points on Amazon:
Hatch– $169.
Philips- $47
Off-brand– Dekala- $29
The only thing I don’t love is that I’m light sensitive when I’m sleeping. If any light is in the room, it interrupts my sleep. The face of the clock is dark except for the time display. There’s a setting (on the one I have) that you can turn the brightness of the time down. In order for the light to wake me up, the clock needs to be pointed towards me while I’m sleeping. Sometimes, even the dimmest setting for the clock is too bright for me.
A workaround I found is putting a pair of socks or a folded up hand towel in front of the display to block it out. I could put a piece of tape over it, but it’d kill the aesthetic, ya know?
But I seriously love this alarm clock. I love waking up a bit gradually and love sitting up in a brighter room first thing in the morning, especially when I don’t want to wake up but need to.
Let me know if you have this, what you think of it, or if you end up buying one!