Best purchase of 2019

Listen, I get it. It’s the beginning of 2021, so naturally you’d expect this post to be about my best purchase of 2020. Like a whole ‘year in review’ kind of thing. But you know, global pandemic and all, I didn’t make a lot of purchases in 2020. Or at least, not many that were noteworthy.

Hear me out; it’s two years later and I’m still over the moon about this, dare I say, life-changing purchase. That’s really saying something. I love this product so much I would literally climb a mountain just to profess my love to the world. Considering mountain top shouting isn’t the most effective form of communication, here we are.

Before I reveal this mind-blowing purchase, a little backstory.

I’m not a morning person. Not sure if I’ve written about this before, but there it is. I’ve always wanted to be a morning person. The type to rise before the sun, refreshed and ready to tackle the day. But more mornings than most, I’m the roll out of bed feeling like I was hit by a Mack truck kind of person.

I’m thoroughly convinced that some people just aren’t meant to be ‘morning people’. Maybe this is something I tell myself to feel better about my lethargic state. Even as a child I had to be dragged out of bed. I distinctly remember my grandmother getting me up at the ripe hour of 11:00 AM, telling me I was going to “sleep my life away.” A statement I quickly accepted as totally fine by me. I mean I loooooooove sleeping.

Since I have yet to find a way of making a living by being a total sloth, I’ve had to resort to the next best thing - finding a way to embrace the morning. Cue the big reveal!

The Philips Wake-Up Light has been a total game-changer for me. First off, I no longer sleep with my phone next to my bed. I don’t know about you, but for me, that means at least an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep every night since I’m not mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or reading the news before bed. I also skip the morning screen time temptations since my phone isn’t the first thing in my hand upon awakening. More sleep and less screen time is obviously reason enough to invest in a great alarm clock, but the real reason I love this purchase is that it’s actually made waking up enjoyable. The whole concept of this type of alarm clock is the sunrise simulation. Meaning I naturally wake up as the light gradually becomes brighter. No jolting sounds (option for nature sounds or radio included). No temptation to snooze a bit longer (although all you have to do is tap the light and it will snooze the sound for a few minutes). All in all a far more enjoyable way to start the day!

Many versions of sunrise simulating alarm clocks are on the market, this just happens to be the one I purchased. If you’re like me and you struggle to start the day feeling refreshed, I highly recommend investing in one. They’re pricer than your standard alarm clock, but can you really put a price tag on a good night of sleep? I think not.