Hitting the snooze button is generally understood to be bad for you—the
extra sleep you're getting isn't of a very good quality, and on top of
that you have to choose between missing breakfast and missing your bus.
If you really can't resist the temptation to take another twenty minutes
under the covers on your own, here are some ideas and apps to help you
break out of the habit.
1. Get moving
It's a lot more difficult to get back to sleep once you're up and
about and talking to the cat about how much work to have to get done
today. There are quite a few alarm clock apps out there that won't shut
up until you've actually clambered out of bed and walked a few steps: SpinMe Alarm Clock ($1.99 on
iOS, free on
Android) is worth investigating if you need something like this and so is
Step Out Of Bed!
($1.99 on iOS). By the time you've staggered all the way to the door
you should be able to escape the clutches of sleep successfully.
2. Talk to a stranger
You have to hand it to Wakie
for a novel idea—tapping into the app's community of users so you can
have a stranger from somewhere else in the world wake you up at a
specified time (and vice versa, if you so wish). It's anonymous and free
(because everyone's volunteering), and the calls are automatically cut
off after one minute, so the awkward small talk is kept to a minimum.
Get up on time, and meet someone new as well, all before breakfast. The
app is available for
Android,
iOS and
Windows Phone.
3. Wake up naturally
There are a ton of apps and gizmos to pick from if you want to be
woken up with a slow increase in light or sound that's more soothing
than a shrill, piercing, robotic ringtone. If you need help choosing,
we'd suggest Sleep Cycle ($0.99 on
Android and
iOS) for giving you a nudge at the right point in your circadian rhythm,
Rise ($1.99 on iOS) for waking up to a more relaxing set of sounds, and the Philips HF3500/60 Wake-Up Light ($69.99) or something similar for slowly filling your room with light to ease you into the day.
4. Exercise your brain
Your brain might think it wants another ten minutes in bed, but it
doesn't—not really. Make sure your pre-sleep common sense wins out by
setting yourself a task to complete before your alarm will switch off: I Can't Wake Up! (free on
Android, free with in-app purchases on
iOS)
lets you set one of eight tasks first thing in the morning, from
matching pairs of words to doing maths equations. It may seem like the
most annoying app in the world the first few times you use it, but
you'll soon be grateful for its help in smoothing out your sleep cycle.
5. Use a wearable
Almost any fitness tracker or smartwatch worth its salt has a vibrate alarm feature, from the Jawbone UP24 ($129.99) to the Fitbit Charge
(four cents cheaper at $129.95)—if you're in the market for a new
wearable, make sure it has a smart or silent alarm feature if you're
going to find it useful. There are new products coming out all the time,
such as the Kickstarter-funded Sense
(also, oddly, $129) — it monitors the atmosphere in your room as well
as your sleep patterns to help you get up and moving at the right time.
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