BenoitRen wrote:Dear Josh
I can't seem to get up at the time I set my alarm at. It ends being snoozed until I get out of bed a couple hours later. I tried putting it some distance away from my bed so I'd have to get out to silence it, but that worked for me only once.
Any tips on how to get out of bed on time?
For this one, it's a good idea to analyze how an alarm works, and how it can fail in it's task.
A typical alarm generates an audible sound which interrupts your mind's natural sleep pattern and draws your alertness out quickly- this is possible because your hearing remains active while asleep to detect incoming predators back before civilization was invented.
There are two primary ways for this to fail. One, if the sound isn't loud enough or your mind doesn't interpret it as a possible threat, and tunes it out. The other failure mode occurs when you register it, but don't gain enough alertness to perform anything beyond than a semi-conscious reaction- namely, hitting the snooze button.
I say there are two methods that need to be implemented. First, you need a high-output stereo system, and load it with some loud, fast, and varied music. It can't be a flat tune because the mind is more likely to ignore patterns. Step 2 is to create a box to hold it, and lock it with a combination lock. The loud sound will serve to wake you, and the cognition required to operate the lock should provide an extra boost to bring your alertness to you. There is one final thing- make sure you leave your bedroom immediately after you silence this custom alarm clock, you will be less likely to go back to bed if you are nowhere near it.