Wake-Update

So I promised you an update on the wake-up light I got from Phillips a couple of months ago.

Here’s the verdict:

+

• It wakes me up with music instead of a buzzer. My wake-up song of choice is Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel. Lovely!
• It charges my phone. I LOVE that I always have a fully charged phone in the morning!
• Waking up to a lighter room is awesome and on weekends when I can sleep in a little I wake up before the song starts from the light alone.

 

-

• Despite the light I still like need to snooze and you can only snooze for 30 minutes, then it shuts off. I may be wrong here because I’m so groggy in the morning but I’ve tried short snoozes and longer ones and 30 minutes seems to be the maximum time you can snooze altogether.
• I have to remember to remove the app icon from the hidden dock at the bottom of the iPhone home screen every night before going to bed because if I don’t I occasionally don’t get woken up. Now that I know it’s not a huge issue though, it’s a bed time routine.

 

In general I really like it. The snooze factor is a bit of an issue but as a safety precaution I also set my phone alarm at a time I REALLY have to get up/have to have gotten up.

I think my main issue is that I sleep too few hours a night and no matter how great an alarm clock or wake-up light is it’s not going to add the extra hours I would really need. On weekends I get 8 hours, my alarm’s set at 8 am and I’m usually in bed by midnight the night before. 8 hours is perfect, any more and I get a headache. On weekdays my alarm’s set at 5 am and I try to be in bed by 11 pm. That’s only six hours. I know. I’m trying to go to bed earlier but it’s hard because if I start saying I’m going to bed there are still a million little things I need to do before I’m actually IN bed (changing the litter box, changing the cats’ water bowls, straightening out the pillows on the sofa, emptying the dish washer, taking something out of the dryer and folding it etc etc). I do have flexible work hours so technically I could start work as late as 9 am but I try to be at work at 7 or 7.30 latest. I prefer to come early, leave early and then there’s time for the blog, projects etc in the evening + spend time with Wille.

Seriously, there are not enough hours in a day!

Comments

[Susan]

I do well with 7 hours. I've always woken up at the same time, without benefit of an alarm clock, for years. 6:00 a.m.! Which is good, when you have an elderly doggy who needs to go outside to his favorite tree.

I have enjoyed reading about your clock - and I LOVE your lamp with the birds.

[nicolezh]

Thank you for the update, I am still considering getting one. I also have a hard time getting enough sleep. I leave the house at 6.30 as I have more than one hour to my place of work and I never make it to bed before 11. Often it's 12 untill I am finally in bed. So I am constantly tiered. I would need 9 to 10 hours per day but I only get these hours at weeksend. Sleeping in is one of my huge pleasures at weekends and vacations.

[Catherine Alekna]

i feel your pain! i have the same weekday sleep routine (11pm to 5am) and i always am walking around the house still adjusting things or cleaning before i decide to cave in and go to sleep. 26 and i still rebel against bed time!! maybe we should set an alarm to remind us an hour before bed time to start getting ready for bed?

[Älvan]

I totally agree on the "not enough hours in the day"! I commute to work and that takes about an hour in each direction. If I am to have any life at all other than eating, cooking or doing the dishes I have to go to bed later, which means less sleep. I get around on about 8 hours but there is no limit on how much I can sleep, and I would need about 12 hours to feel really good. Being a hypersomniac sucks in that respect. But I never have any problems sleeping on airplanes and trains, or in cars.

[maria]

Jag har länge varit nyfiken på en sådan klocka. Fast det skulle inte fungera hos oss, det är 3-4 timmar mellan den första och den sista lämnar sängen. Till dottern kör jag en egen version: när jag vaknar tänder jag fönsterlampan och den tänder sig ganska långsamt, så hinner hon vakna och vänja sig.

[Die Rabenfrau]

I also would like more hours in the day! Your wake-up thing seems to be nice, but it is so big, it would fill up my little bedside-table completely!
Hugs
Ursel

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

haha

[Alison]

Being a a complete night-person, I used to hit the snooze button a few times before I got up in the morning. Then I read somewhere that doing that interrupts your sleeping (and can make you feel worse) and you are better off having your alarm go off when you need to get up (or at least within a few minutes so you can drag yourself out of bed). I've been doing this for a few months and it seems to be a little easier getting up in the morning.

[Jennica]

Hahaha! I so recognize this! I am totally the same. And I am 43 and still rebel against bed time...but you know what? I actually do set the alarm at a certain time at night and try to finish off things after that. But....since I have this rebel thing going on I think I have to set the alarm a bit earlier! :)

[Annika]

Hej!
Efter ditt inlägg om den här klockan gick jag och köpte mig en, eftersom jag tyckte att jag behövde förbättra min morgonrutiner för att få en bättre start på dagen. Jag håller med dig om alla +:en och har inte ens märkt av någon av det som du beskriver som -, så all in all är jag väldigt nöjd. Har väl inte helt kommit på vilken volym som passar mig bäst ännu, men det är ok. Lite tid för utprovning måste man ju tåla. En fördel för mig utöver det du beskriver är att jag sedan några år tillbaka alltid somnar med en ljudbok i öronen, men eftersom den här klockan fungerar som högtalare för iPhonen så behöver jag inte längre några hörlurar! Så tack för tipset! :)

[Heather P.]

Thanks for the review! I've considered getting one of these, because there is a street light right outside our bedroom window, and we have to use blackout curtains to get to sleep. However, this also means I can't wake up to the sun in the morning! I'm not sure my husband will be okay with it, though...he's a big fan of keeping everything really dark, even during the day. Something to think about, for sure!

[Mira Crisp]

I second the dog alarm :) My dog is usually ready for her first morning trip outside around 5:30 and she does not allow snoozing which works well for me, the snooze lover. I love being waked up by a dog and not the alarm {although I always set up the alarm just in case she decides to sleep-in}

[sunny]

You're so right. There are not enough hours in the day... so I have to do what I can for that night and let the rest go (temporarily). I get to sleep between 10 and 11 and try to wake at 5:30 so that I have enough time to slowly wake up. Until last month I was setting my alarm for the latest possible time (7 AM) and rushing to leave home by 7:35 AM.

Thanks for sharing what you do at night before bed - unloading the dishwasher, folding and putting away laundry, etc. Do you have an after work routine or a morning routine?

[sol]

I saw one of these in John Lewis before Christmas and I thought it looked really good. it is a little expensive for my purse right now. It makes sense that the day light from the machine makes you wake up. do you feel any more awake when the light has been on? I find I am very grumpy in the morning and feel sluggish. Pleased you have done a review I might look into getting one now

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

I have a kitty-alarm too but it's not very regular so I can't rely on it completely :).

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

II should probably do the same but I do love to snooze :).

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

Jag testar också volymen. Just nu kör jag lite högre i veckorna och lite softare på helgen :).

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

My after work routing is basically to do some grocery shopping on the way home, quickly prepare a meal and them eat it with Wille in front of the TV.

In the mornings I jump in the shower, get dressed and make a smoothie to bring to work and then leave. As fast as I can :).

[Kerstin]

I have the older version of the Wake Up light (without app and dock) and one of the few minuses I see is that it only gets as bright in the morning as it was set when you switched it off the night before.
Usually I read a bit before falling asleep and dim the light, because otherwise the bright light would keep me awake, so I would have to turn the lamps intensity up after switching it off to get the maximum effect the next morning.

Do you know what I mean? Or did they change this in the new version?

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

I don't use it at night so I'm not sure.

[andrea]

I'm SO thankful for my pup. We usually go for our first walk at around 8 (on work days) and 9-10 on the weekend xD

[Kerstin]

Right, the bird lamp could have been a hint, now that I've looked more closely ;o)

[Ann]

Thanks for the review! I am always curious to see what other people think of this (since I love mine), and I love your blog. :-)

I have a different model (closer to this: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Hf3470-Wake-up-Light-White/dp/B003XN4RIC/). I was amazed how much different I feel when I wake up! In fact, I failed to set it just last night, and when my dog woke me up this morning, I felt very sluggish. The light really helps me feel much more refreshed and awake. Instead of music, I set mine to wake me up with bird noises, which is effective yet peaceful. It was a christmas gift in 2011, and I loved it last winter. However, this winter, with a 4 month old, it's practically a necessity. It almost completely eliminates the "dragging up from a dark well" morning feeling, even on nights where I've gotten way too little sleep.

On the down side, the controls are not intuitive or well designed. Assuming I can find the snooze button, I can snooze all day long (unlike yours - how annoying!) but as soon as you snooze the first time, the light goes off and stays off... which just seems like bad design.

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

Wille has the same one or similar to the one you have and he LOVES it! I also have a variety of nature sounds on mine but after trying them out I prefer music. The problem is that sometimes I lie in listening to the music instead of getting up though :)