Getting up on time

It's funny how I have to go back to a blog post that I wrote almost 10 years ago! So this one is like a follow-up to my post about clock radios and why I love them so much!

At the beginning of this century (2000) I discovered clock radios because my parents got me a Panasonic Music system that had a function for waking up at a time I desired; with the source of music that I liked (CD/ Radio/ Cassette). Most of my engineering days I used that function to get up almost always on time without any issues. After I started working, and I moved to a different location, I bought a clock radio there and continued my morning routine. Which remained so, all the while till I completed my MBA.

Around 2010, I discovered smartphones and more or less have been using them as alarm clocks ever since. Unfortunately, being a light sleeper, an alarm clock startles me out of bed every time it goes off, however soothing a sound I keep as my alarm. Not only does it make me grouchy, but also it makes me get up with an elevated heart beat, something I don't feel comfortable with.

Towards the end of last year, I decided to go give clock radios another shot mainly because I developed the bad habit of checking my email in my bed after my alarm went off in the phone. This turned out to be a very bad way of starting my day by thinking about work (Your email is everybody's action items for you - I don't remember which celebrity said that).

Anyway, I purchased the Sony ICF-C1 (it's sad to see that the Clock radio genre is dying and there are not many options in the market anymore). It does it's job quite well, and I have been having pleasant mornings ever since. I have started getting up on time ever since, and I don't feel that grouchy and stressed the moment I get up.

So, if you are like me, I highly recommend ditching your phone (keep it far away from your bedside table) and getting a clock radio because:

1. You can get up gently (most clock radios progressively increase the sound of the music so you don't get startled)
2. You won't check Email/ Messages/ Social Media first thing in the morning
3. You will get to hear some good music early in the morning (hoping you have good soothing music radio stations in your vicinity)
4. Unlike an alarm clock, you won't feel like switching off your radio to sleep more (even if you lie in bed listening to the music for 10 more minutes), and it will gradually awaken you!

So, to conclude - it's 2019, I am not getting any younger, and I feel like a nostalgic grandpa. I am, therefore, going back to old tech that I used while I was younger!