For many of us, waking up in the morning is usually a chore as peaceful sleep and peaceful dreams are interrupted by the shrill chime of our smartphone alarms. It's so easy to hold on to the snooze button until the last minute in order to stay comfy and warm and avoid the responsibilities of the day.
But there's a ton of technology out there that can help improve your wake-up habits: gadgets and apps that can smooth the transition from sleep to wakefulness and make the daily process more natural and enjoyable. Here are five of our favorites and how to use them.
1) Using the Smart Hub
If you have a smart hub in your home (i.e. a Google Nest Hub or Amazon Echo Show), you can set both the audio and on-screen visuals to gradually get stronger as your alarm approaches – based on the idea that waking up is a process, not a jolt.
On your Google Smart Display, you can set an alarm by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and tapping the clock icon. Sunrise Alarm Set up a gradient effect so that the audio increases over time.
The Echo Show has a similar feature, but it's easier to set an alarm through the Alexa app on your smartphone. device Click on the tab and then click on the gear icon to go to settings. Display and brightness And the alarm volume increases, sound.
2) Use smart lights
Many smart lights on the market include an option to gradually increase brightness over time, so check the app that came with your smart light (or if you're buying a new smart light, check to see if it has that feature).
While we can't provide a guide for every make and model of smart light, here's how they work with your Philips Hue system: Automation Tap a tab within an app + Press the (Plus) button in the top right corner, Wake up to the light.
On the next screen, you can set the time you want to wake up, how long it will take for the light to start coming on, what color and brightness you want to use, and what days of the week you want the effect to repeat.
3) Use an alarm light
Along with general-purpose smart lights, there are also lights designed specifically to help you wake up smoothly. These lights use your local sunrise time or a time you set, and provide a warm, gradually increasing light to help you start your day off right.
of Lumier Body Clock Shine 300 It costs $159 and also has a built-in radio so you can listen to music while waking up to a gentle light. It's designed to replicate a real sunrise, has a sunset mode, and can also generate white noise.
Another option is Casper Glow Lightavailable for $129. Like the Lumie, it can help you fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning, and it also doubles as a portable lamp that you can take anywhere.
4) Use an alarm app
If you have to use your phone to get out of bed, there are plenty of apps to help with the process, including one that will have you do a math problem before disabling the alarm to make sure you're awake.
Try Alarmy (Android, iOS) is not too intrusive, and it can wake you up with gentle, natural sounds and even track your sleep throughout the night (and do math problems for you, if you like).
And the sleep cycle (Android, iOS) focuses on sleep and wakes you up at a time that suits your natural sleep patterns, but within a preset time frame so you don't get late for work, and also offers a gentle alarm option.
5) Use a different alarm
If you don't want to buy additional gadgets or install third-party apps, you can also try out some options using the default alarms on your phone. These are more limited, but it's worth exploring what they can do. Of course, Google and Apple are constantly introducing new features.
upper alarm In the Alarm tab of Android's default Clock app, tap on the Alarm sound option and you'll see a variety of choices. Not only can you choose from the built-in sounds, but you can also select an audio file (such as nature sounds) or record it directly. Tap on the three dots (top right) to setting find Gradually increase the volume option.
In the default iOS clock app, tap the alarm soundHowever, you can import tracks from Apple Music for a more gentle loading, and you can also use the Sleep Schedule option in the iOS Health app to better manage your wake-up time.
