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I hate getting out of bed in the morning, so I tried the famous 'wake-up light'

I consider myself to be a champion sleeper. Nighttime or daytime, I can fall asleep — and stay asleep — in just about any position or place.

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Waking up is a different story. I regularly find myself hitting the snooze button on my alarm for over an hour before getting out of bed.

After reading several articles about the benefits of alarm clocks that use light to gradually wake you, I decided see if one of those clocks could help make me a morning person.

woman sleeping on table
Scott Wintrow/Stringer/Getty Images

I ordered the Philips HF3500/60 Wake-Up Light. At $65, the price was right, and the light has hundreds of great reviews on Amazon from people claiming the light worked well for them.

Excited to test it out, I set up the lamp on my bedside table.

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Here’s what it looks like:

wake up light
The Wake-Up Light on my nightstand. Tech Insider/Madison Malone Kircher

The Wake-Up Light starts glowing thirty minutes before you set the alarm to sound. Simulating a sunrise, the brightness gradually increases to 200 Lux, which definitely felt brighter than the 6o-watt light bulbs in my other lamps. The idea is that you'll already be well on your way out of REM sleep by the time your alarm does go off.

Along with the brightness, it also emits a gradually increasing noise.

This is a clip of the Wake-Up Light in action. 

 

To be as consistent as possible, I went to bed at roughly the same time each night and set the alarm for either 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. each morning.

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The first morning the Wake-Up Light was put into action, I woke up a little easier. The bright, yellow glow easily filled my small bedroom, so there was no need to turn on any other lights to guide my morning routine. Rising to a fully-lit room felt a little bit like waking up late on a weekend morning.

wake up light
A profile view of the Wake-Up Light. Tech Insider/Madison Malone Kircher

Over the next week, I continued to ditch my usual snooze button tactics.

I did have a few issues, but they had more to do with me than the clock. A few times, I had buried my face in my pillows so much so that I was unaware there was any light in my room. Another time, I passed out on my bed after I had already gotten up and showered. 

Morning Routine
YouTube

Despite these few snafus, the Wake-Up Light is way better than using my iPhone's alarm clock, which I would sometimes turn off in my sleep. 

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While I could just set a standard alarm and let the sunrise come through my window each morning to wake me naturally, falling asleep with the shades open is difficult given the city light outside my window. The Wake-Up Light lets me sleep in relative darkness before it springs into action in the morning, making it easier to drift into my dreams. 

While I wouldn't say it's made me a morning person by any means, the Wake-Up Light has made me more aware of the importance of setting a sleep cycle and sticking to it as closely as possible. Hopefully, it will be more helpful in the dark winter months.

Digital Culture
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