One of the last things I always ask my husband before we fall asleep is, "Is your alarm set?" It's probably an unnecessary question...after years of my asking it only a handful of times has he said no, and gotten up to set it. But I like to think that those few times saved him from starting off the next day poorly. While alarms might be unpleasant for some of us to wake up to, the consequences of not getting up on time are usually much worse.
I'm not a fan of the sleep function on alarm clocks. I think alarm clocks are most effective when they are set for the time that you must get up, or perhaps ten minutes earlier, so you can at least lie in bed for a minute and collect your thoughts if you like. If you tend to fall asleep again immediately after shutting your alarm off, placing it out of arm's reach so you have to get up in order to turn it off really does work.
I'm also not a fan of using one's cellphone as an alarm clock. This works for a lot of people, but it means that psychically we're dependent on our phones, even as we sleep, and that doesn't seem healthy. Personally, I like an alarm that wakes me up by gradually increasing the volume of preselected music...it's gentle and effective. I consider myself a morning person and when I'm in a routine, I often don't even need to have an alarm set in order to wake up at a predetermined time. But I set one anyway.
Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Alan Cleaver.
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