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Start Your Day With a Better Alarm Sound
Why waking up to your favorite song is a terrible idea
I used to jolt awake every morning to the latest Taylor Swift bop blasting full-volume. I’d lie in place for a few more seconds, letting my heart return to its normal resting rate, dreading the moment that I needed to roll over and actually get up to start the day.
There has got to be a better way to wake up, I’d think. Still, despite always carefully planning the rest of my morning routine, I neglected the very first and very crucial aspect until recently.
I suspect I’m not alone. And there really is a better way to wake up. I’d just been thinking about my alarm all wrong.
I’d gotten part of the equation right: Waking up to music is ideal for most of us. Research has shown that songs are generally more effective at rousing us than repetitive alarm noises — in one study, people who woke to sounds with a strong melody were less susceptible to sleep inertia, the groggy state that tends to persist in the transition to wakefulness.
I don’t know how many songs I’ve ruined this way.
Where I went wrong was in my choice of songs. I’d rotate through songs I legitimately liked in my waking life, quickly come to associate them with the…
