The wake-up journal
Sleep science, alarm teardowns and honest comparisons, written by the people who built an alarm with no snooze button.
Why do I wake up before my alarm? (And should you get up?)
Your body clock learns your wake time and starts preparing an hour ahead. Our rule of thumb: within 30 minutes of the alarm, get up or doze. Don’t clock-watch.
Daylight saving time ends Nov 1, 2026: how to adjust to the fall back
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov 1, 2026. Keep your alarm at the same clock time Sunday and Monday, keep mornings dim, and give it a week.
What is sleep inertia?
Sleep inertia is the impaired, slow-thinking state right after waking. It usually lasts 15 to 60 minutes and hits hardest out of deep sleep.
The alarm that makes you get out of bed: an honest roundup
Clocky, Ruggie, wake-up lights and mission apps, judged on two questions: can you cheat it half-asleep, and does it survive silent mode? An honest roundup.
How to get the loudest alarm sound on your iPhone
Max out iPhone alarm volume in two minutes: the Sounds & Haptics slider, the Attention Aware trap, the harshest built-in tones, and why louder stops working.
Alarmy alternatives: the honest list
The best Alarmy alternative depends on why you are leaving: Risly for missions on Apple’s AlarmKit, Sleep Cycle for grogginess, the Clock app for free.
What is the alarm app that makes you take a picture?
The alarm from your feed that will not stop until you photograph something across the room: what it is called, which object to pick, and how people cheat it.
Is snoozing actually bad for you?
A sleep lab measured it: snoozing cost about six minutes of sleep and no measurable cognitive harm. Another study found snoozers slower to get up, not late.
The best alarm apps for heavy sleepers
An honest comparison of the alarm apps that actually wake heavy sleepers: Risly, Alarmy, Wayk, SuperAlarm, Sleep Cycle, the Clock app and Alarm Clock Xtreme.
I keep sleeping through my alarm
You are not sleeping through your alarm: you dismiss it in your sleep and forget. The evidence on your phone, and the four fixes ranked by effort.
The alarm that makes you do math
A math alarm rings until you solve chained arithmetic. How the mission works, what the problems do to a half-awake brain, and when to pick another one.
The best alarm app for ADHD
ADHD mornings fail twice: a body clock running late, and a snooze button that asks an impaired brain to decide. What to look for in an alarm app.
iPhone alarm not going off: the real causes
iPhone alarm not going off? Silent mode never muted it; Apple documents that. Check alarm sound, schedule and alert volume; Attention Aware is another setting to investigate.
How to stop hitting snooze
You will not out-discipline the snooze button: the decision gets made while your judgement is impaired. Five fixes ranked by how long each one actually holds.
The alarm that makes you do push-ups
A push-up alarm rings until the front camera has counted your reps. How the counting works, how many to set, and what the evidence actually supports.
Ready when you are
Choose your next wake-up mission.