Method 1: setting a bajillion alarms

My ultimate wake-up strategy is setting a whole phone screen’s worth of alarms (something about sound) approximately 5-10 minutes apart. While possibly excessive, I believe it is quite successful, seeing as I haven’t missed first period because I’ve overslept. Starting from 6 a.m., my phone aggressively vibrates to the iPhone sound Reflection, but I groggily stop it to nestle back into my pillow. I do this about three times before I finally reach a conscious state, and that’s when my last alarm rings at the optimum time to start my morning routine.

Method 2: asking someone else to wake you up

It may be easier to put the responsibility of waking up on someone else, but relying on others for this task can be difficult. What if they don’t wake up? Then you’re both late! From elementary to middle school, my mom woke me up for school. Some Liberty students may still be doing this, but unfortunately, as we grow up, we must graduate from this stage, especially if you drive to school. It’s a tough transition, and to this day, my mom still texts me, asking if I’m awake, but now, it’s simply a safety blanket.

Method 3: placing your alarm clock out of reach

I acknowledge the wit of this strategy: you have to get out of bed to turn it off, which increases the chances that you’ll wake up and not fall back asleep. However, I dislike how disruptive it is. Sometimes, you just need a few extra minutes of sleep, and this method deprives you of that privilege. As a result, you’d probably wake up and start your day in a bad mood, which we all know can be difficult to recover from.

Method 4: trusting that your body will just get up

Some people can simply wake up at the same time every day without an alarm; my dad is like this. Their bodies just have an internal alarm clock. It’s an admirable trait, but don’t assume you can automatically do this too. You’d be late. Like typical high school students, you probably don’t have a healthy sleep schedule, so you can’t rely on your circadian rhythm to decide when you wake up for school. Your body might get confused, like thinking it’s Saturday and you can sleep in when it’s actually Friday.