Pick an Alarm Clock that Actually Works for You
We all wake up a little differently. The difference between getting up with the first sound of your alarm and hitting snooze often depends on what you hear first thing in the morning.
Alter Your Environment
Sometimes even the best alarm clock in the world can’t force you out of bed in the morning. In that case, it’s time to start changing your physical environment. For instance, most of us are familiar with the trick of placing your alarm clock on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. That’s great, but if you share a bed and want to take that same idea to an extreme idea, blogger Vincent Cheung gives himself an ultimatum:
rain, Train, and Train Some More
Let’s be clear here: you can’t go from sleeping in until 11 a.m. everyday to happily waking up at 5 a.m. You’ll need to train and practice. That means resetting your inner clock and training yourself slowly over time. The New York Times explains:
To start, move up your wake-up time by 20 minutes a day. If you regularly rise at 8 a.m., but really want to get moving at 6 a.m., set the alarm for 7:40 on Monday. The next day, set it for 7:20 and so on. Then, after you wake up, don't linger in bed. Hit yourself with light. In theory, you'll gradually get sleepy about 20 minutes earlier each night, and you can facilitate the transition by avoiding extra light exposure from computers or televisions as you near bedtime.