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Now that winter is here, I'm getting up before sunrise. This has led to me being consistently groggy in the morning regardless of how long or how well I sleep. I've tried turning the volume down -- it rises slowly from the initial volume, V0, but the lowest audible V0 is still loud enough to jar me awake.
I have heard rumours of alarm clocks that wake you up by gradually brightening a light bulb with a dimmer, simulating a sunrise, and also of alarm clocks that do something similar only with soothing noises rather than irritating beeps.
Where can I procure such an alarm clock? What are they called?
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I've got the "Zen Alarm Clock" -- it makes a nice little chime (though preceded by a small winding/grinding sounds) and then rings at more frequent intervals (something like 3.5 minutes, 2.25 minutes, 1.5 minutes, 45 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) I like it OK, bit expensive though (think it was $70?) There's probably other stuff available that's even more pleasant and yet less expensive...
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My favorite alarm clock was the one I had in college. One option was slowly increasing the sound of the ocean. I woke up with less stress then the beeping from Hell.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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But since I sleep through my air raid siren I can't imagine that soft light would ever get me to work on time.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I wonder if I'll have to import one? They don't seem to be available north of the border. Either that, or my Google-fu is weak.
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I've had this one for 3 or 4 years now. I'm not sure, at this point, that it really helps me much, but it did when I first started using it.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I have the biobrite one, but in analog. I got it before they came in digital.
The effect is not as dramatic as it was when I first got it ('cause, let's face it, I'm just not a morning person no matter what), but I sure noticed it when I forgot to buy a new bulb and didn't have it for a few days.
Plus it has a nice "sunset" feature that lets you fall asleep reading and the light slowly fades away.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Yeah, I love the "sunset" feature. If it weren't for that I'd offer to loan my clock to twinky so that he could give it a try before purchasing one.
I wonder if I'd notice a difference in alertness levels if my bulb burnt out? I don't think that I would, necessarily. When I'm travelling I typically use my cell phone as an alarm, and I haven't noticed myself feeling any groggier for it.
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Christy and I have an alarm clock that wakes us up slowly. But we both wake up before it STARTS to go off, which kind of defeats the point.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I also have the biobrite one, and it was great for when I was working overnight shifts. I had my windows entirely covered so I could sleep through the day and woke up around 9pm.
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I've got an excellent alarm system. The clock radio goes off. I either sleep through it or smack the "snooze" thing. My husband then gently awakens me: "Sweetheart? Sweetheart?"
"mmph...five more minutes?"
"OK"
...10 minutes later...
"Sweetheart? Sweetheart? Time to get going. I gave you an extra ten minutes."
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Hmmmmmm... an alarm clock that applies kisses. Not a bad idea.
In the meantime, though, I guess I'll have to import one of those globular sunrise ones. It should do the job. Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I have mine set up to play static starting at the lowest volume. It works quite well, unless the knob has been bumped so that it's set to an actual station. Waking up to commercials just isn't any fun.
If I ever live someplace where I can't find any decent static, I'll probably just buy some sort of soothing cd to use for a wakeup.
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I used to use a clock radio set to a station that broadcast Morning Edition. Since I generally didn't wake immediately when my alarm went off, it generally made for some interesting dreams.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I use my cellphone to wake me up, with the ring tone of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. It works well, becuase I really don't wake up to anything less than an air raid siren, no matter how much sleep I've gotten.
I've slept through thunderstorms, tornado sirens... and I wouldn't put it past myself to sleep through an air raid.
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Mine starts at volume zero and works its way up to eight, which is pretty quiet. It plays my Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Soundtrack CD, which has a lovely first track for waking up to.
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El JT, that's the one we have. I quite like it. Tom always turns off the light, though, so sadly it hasn't really helped ease me into wakefulness. I can't stand regular alarms, though, because I'm very sensitive in the morning. The slightest noise wakes me up. We do use the sunset/nature noise feature often to go to sleep.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kissing alarm clocks...hmm...I need one of those too. My boyfriend has the most obnoxious alarm clock ever (went off this morning and we couldn't turn it off so we unplugged it. ha) and he needs it cause he can sleep through anything. Usually I just hide under the covers. If I say "ten more minutes" he goes back to sleep and I miss my first class of the day. I need a responsible human alarm clock.
I use my cell phone and just set multiple alarms. If I need to get up at 8am, I set one for 7 and the other for 8. That way the first one gets me out of deep sleep then I get to roll over and get an hour of light sleep so that its easier for me to get up when the second one goes off.
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