It’s Alarming: What Wakes You Up Each Morning?

 

By Anne Ball

17 February 2020

How do you wake up in the morning?

If you set an alarm on your phone or clock that sounds like this:

beep beep beep

That hard, unpleasant sound may be making it harder to shake off the sleepy feeling in the morning known as grogginess¹.

So, is there a better way to wake up? A recent study says yes. The answer is music. Researchers say alarms that have a melody² – like the beginning of this song – can help people feel fresher in the morning.

The study, carried out by researchers in Australia, involved 50 people. The study subjects answered questions about the alarm sound they like to wake up to, how they feel about that sound and how they feel when they wake up. The findings appeared this month in the publication PloS One.

The researchers found that people who wake up to musical alarms reported feeling more awake and alert³.

Stuart McFarlane was a lead writer of the study. He told VOA, "We are very surprised by these findings as one might expect a harsh⁴ beeping sound to be more successful," at waking up a person.

Sleep inertia⁵ is another term for grogginess. It means a person has a heavy feeling when waking up, and has trouble getting moving again after sleeping.

McFarlane said people need to better understand sleep inertia's harmful effects on human performance later in the day. The grogginess we may feel in the morning usually lasts for up to 30 minutes. But he said it has been reported to last from two to four hours.

Not everyone will experience the full effect. But for those who do, "care should be taken" when performing duties that require a top performance within this period, he said. This includes "dangerous tasks like driving or riding our bikes" shortly after waking up.

The same is true for people who work in dangerous situations shortly after they wake. They include firefighters and pilots.

Sleep inertia has been linked to major accidents including airplane and shipping⁶ crashes.

Why is music better?

So, what makes musical alarms better for waking up?

The researchers think the music may be more successful in reducing sleep inertia because it has several tones⁸, compared to the single tone⁷ of a "beeping" alarm. McFarlane said that the changes over time between the music tones may help increase a person's attention when waking from sleep.

But, he added, "it is early days though and more work is needed" to fully⁹ know the answer.

And is there a kind of music that is best to wake up to? There may be, McFarlane said.

"We could suggest alarm sounds that are tune¹⁰ full and easy to hum or sing along with. The current sounds I have been using include ‘Close to me' by the Cure and ‘Borderline' by Madonna."

No matter how you wake up, experts say, the amount of sleep you get also matters – a lot.

Dr. Stuart F. Quan is the clinical director of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disorders¹¹ at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He offered some suggestions for how people can get better sleep and feel fresh each morning.

Establish regular hours. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Researchers recommend getting at least seven hours of sleep a night.

Create a sleep-friendly room. It should be completely dark while sleeping. Place your bed away from windows. Try to make sure it is quiet and cool.

Exercise. Most studies show that usual exercise -- three or four times a week -- helps improve sleep.

Try not to use electronics¹² in bed. Turn off your cell phone before bed, or put it on the "do not disturb" setting.

Avoid large meals before bedtime.

Limit nicotine¹³, caffeine, and alcohol before bed.

Be more active during the day. This can help you fall asleep more quickly and easily.

Words in This Story

alarm – n. a device that makes a loud sound as a warning or signal

shake off – v. an act of getting rid of something unpleasant or unwanted

grogginess – adj. not able to think or move normally because of being tired, sick

alert – adj. able to think clearly and to notice things

harsh – adj. unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience

tone – n. the quality of a sound produced by a musical instrument or singing voice

hum – v. to make a low continuous sound

1 grogginess   

酒醉；东歪西倒

参考例句：

• We had to bushwhack through undergrowth. 我们只好在灌木丛中劈开一条路。
• The grogginess from the beer was wearing off. 因喝了啤酒而产生的醉意正在消退。 来自辞典例句

2 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

3 alert   

adj.机警的，活泼的，机灵的；vt.使...警觉

参考例句：

• Drivers must be on the alert for traffic signals.驾驶员必须密切注意交通信号。
• The rabbIt'seems to be very alert all its life.兔子似乎一生都小心翼翼，十分警觉。

4 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

5 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

8 tones   

音( tone的名词复数 )； 色调； 腔调； 全音 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• his clipped military tones 他那短促的军人音调
• His name was always mentioned in almost reverential tones. 人们每次提起他的名字，语调中几乎总是充满了敬意。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

11 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 electronics   

n.电子器件，电子学，电子技术

参考例句：

• About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
• He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。

13 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。