Mornings do not come easily for a lot of people.
If you’re someone who often sleeps through alarms, hits the snooze button more times than they count, or just can’t seem to shake the drowsiness, you might need an extra hand getting up in the morning.
And hey, you’re not alone. In fact, more than 20% of people set more than one wake-up alarm in the morning knowing that they might sleep through or miss the first.
To help you out, we’ve rounded up the top 5 best alarm clocks for heavy sleepers and all the information, tips, and advice that you’ll need to transform your mornings from a drowsy blur into a productive and energetic time for yourself.
No more dozing, let’s get started.
The top 5 best alarm clocks for heavy sleepers
At Sleep4Beginners, we’ve tried and tested the best mattresses, blankets, and sleep aids on the market. Today, we’re sharing our best picks to help even the heaviest sleepers get out of bed in the morning.
If you’re struggling, you’ll want to invest in one of these 5 alarms.
1. Mesqool Loud Vibrating Alarm Clock for Heavy Sleeper with Bed Shaker
If you’re looking for an alarm that has it all, the Mesqool loud alarm with bed shaker is definitely for you. Not only will it make an extra loud sound that can’t be ignored, but the bed shaker will also vibrate your bed and wake even the deepest sleepers up from their slumber.
The bed shaker slides underneath your pillow, allowing you to position it in a way that will give you the biggest impact in the morning. This device also makes it a great option for those that have hearing impairments or want to wake up without disturbing their partner.
This alarm clock also comes with a 7” digital clock display with a dimmer, making sure that the light doesn’t interrupt your sleep at night. If you’re struggling for plug sockets near your bed, it also comes with a built-in dual USB charger to plug in your phones, tablets, or e-readers at the same time.
It comes in blue, green, or white, allowing you to match it to your room. It also comes with an emergency battery compartment, providing backup power in case of an outage during the night.
2. Homchen 4” Twin Bell Alarm Clock Non-Ticking, Battery Operated Old Fashioned Loud Alarm Clock
Not a fan of digital clocks? The Homchen alarm will be right up your street.
The Homchen alarm clock goes back to basics with this tried and tested old-fashioned design that will wake you up with that well-known two bell sound. There’s no snooze button here, just one alarm that you’ll need to get up and turn off.
Battery-powered, it can be placed anywhere in your room – which could help encourage you to physically get out of bed to stop the ringing. Available in a stylish black or white option, the clock faces are also backlit to provide ease of reading through the night hours.
3. MOSUO LED Digital Alarm Clock, Rechargeable Mirror Bedside Clock
Can’t stand the thought of being woken up by bells or that soul-crushing buzzing sound? The MOSUO LED digital alarm clock is worth your attention.
With 13 music options and 3 adjustable volumes, this alarm clock will allow you to choose from bird sounds, soft music, or relaxing piano to start your day in the best mood. It also comes with an easy 5-minute snooze button, allowing you a moment to gather your thoughts before getting out of bed.
It comes with a clever display with adjustable brightness or can be turned off in a power-saving mode that will only display when it senses sound or movement.
It also handles two separate alarms, which is perfect for those that are on different shift patterns. There’s no resetting and changing one alarm, set both and wake up exactly when you need to.
This clock is available in elegant black, white, and silver models.
4. CLOCKY Alarm Clock on Wheels
Ever had an alarm clock that ran away from you? Now you have, with the CLOCKY alarm clock on wheels.
Perfect for both adults and kids, this alarm clock demands that you catch it before you can turn off the alarm. With two big wheels attached, it will drive full speed in random directions around your bedroom until you turn it off.
Equipped with a super loud alarm, this will wake up even the deepest sleepers and encourage you to get up and think in order to stop the noise. It does have one snooze option, but you’ll have to get up and chase it again to turn it off.
It is available in a range of different colours, from classic black and white to gold, navy, blue and pink models.
5. Shock Clock 2-Silent Vibrating/Zapping Alarm Clock for Heavy Sleepers & Couples
The Shock Clock is a wearable alarm clock that uses vibrations, sound, and shocks to wake yourself up. Styled like a smartwatch, it is worn on the wrist while you sleep – and comes with a jumping jack mode where the only way to deactivate the alarm is to get out of bed and jump up and down.
And hey, if you’re doing jumping jacks, you’re definitely awake.
Worn on your wrist, it is also a great option for people that want to get up without disturbing their partner or who travel a lot. You won’t need to pack a big alarm clock or sleep through the hotel room calls with this alarm watch.
This smartwatch also helps track your sleep and sleep cycles, helping you to understand the quality of sleep that you’re getting at night.
What different alarm clock types are there?
As you would have seen in our top picks for the best alarm clocks for heavy sleepers, the traditional alarm clock isn’t the only option out there.
There are a variety of different styles and functionalities that you can choose from, including:
- Digital, which have a digital screen that displays the time. Typically, they tend to have a simple buzzer that you can set to go off at a certain time.
- Analogue, are old fashioned alarm clocks that use a traditional clock face and gear to tell the time. Like the Homchen 4” Twin Bell Alarm Clock, analogue alarm clocks often come with bells attached to provide the noise in the morning. Some people will find the ticking soothing, whereas others might want to launch this type of clock at the wall when they’re trying to sleep.
- Sunrise, which are are set to gradually get brighter in the morning to simulate the sun rising. These are good for people who are trying to wake up naturally or focus on their circadian rhythm.
- Projection, which physically project the time onto the wall or ceiling. They’re useful to make telling the time easier, but don’t provide many other benefits over digital ones.
- Vibration, which shake or vibrate to wake someone through movement, rather than sound. If you continuously sleep through alarms or are hearing impaired, these are the best option for you.
Depending on which model you get, some alarm clocks are multifunctional and combine many different types together into a single waking machine.
Are light alarm clocks good for heavy sleepers?
You might have noticed from our top picks of the best alarm clocks for heavy sleepers that there’s one alarm clock type that’s missing from the standings: light clocks.
That doesn’t mean that light clocks don’t work for some people. In fact, light clocks are a great way to encourage gradual awakening in the morning and stimulate the body’s natural circadian rhythm to feel refreshed and awake.
But a downside to a light alarm is that if you’re a deep sleeper, light alone isn’t enough to snap you out of your slumber. However, sunrise alarms that have an additional sound might be a great option for heavy sleepers.
Should you use your mobile phone as an alarm?
One of the biggest questions when choosing the best alarm clocks for heavy sleepers is why you invest in a clock when you can set alarms on your phone.
Now, mobile phones are a good option if you’re strapped on cash or are traveling a lot as you’ll always have it with you. But, in reality, phones don’t provide the best alarm options – and some experts argue they shouldn’t even be in the bedroom at all.
Having gadgets like smartphones in the bedroom can impact sleep, especially if you’re using them late at night. This is because the phone provides your brain with more stimulation at night when you’re trying to wind down, making it harder for your mind to turn off and go to sleep.
With less sleep, you’re also less likely to wake up in the morning.
When your smartphone alarm goes off, the instinct for most people is to continue scrolling on their phone after turning off the alarm, or making use of the countless snooze functionality. This means that you’re spending more time in bed scrolling on gadgets, rather than preparing your body to wake up.
Does it matter what sound you wake up to?
Yes! The sound that you choose to wake up to in the morning can greatly impact your day and mood. In fact, one Melbourne study found that harsh alarm sounds have increased levels of morning grogginess, while those that woke up with music more gradually transitioned into being awake.
Music can have a big impact on your mood, so playing cheerful and energising music can not only help you wake up but wake up in a good mood. So think of a cheerful song that you like and try to set that as your alarm for a bit to see its impact on your mood.
Word of warning though, we’d avoid setting your favourite song as your alarm, as you may come to resent it or get sick of hearing it every single day.
Top tips for heavy sleepers
As well as choosing a great alarm clock, we’ve rounded up some other tips to follow to help make mornings easier to face.
1. Aggressive isn’t always best
When you have a habit of sleeping through alarms, there’s a tendency to go for the loudest and most aggressive sound that you can find to startle yourself awake.
But as we’ve mentioned before, the sound that you wake up to can have a big impact on how you wake up. And scaring yourself awake every day may not put you in the best mood to carry on.
Instead, consider gentler sounds or happier music that might get you motivated, not scared.
2. Set bedtime schedules based on your sleep cycle
There are 5 stages of sleep that people go through every night, including light sleep, deep slight, and REM (Rapid-Eye Movement) sleep. If you wake up halfway through a cycle, you’ll feel groggy, disorientated and find it more difficult to wake.
If you’re in a state of deep sleep or REM, it will also be harder to wake yourself up as well, which might explain all the alarms that you’ve slept through. So to remedy this, you want to aim to wake up when you’re in a period of light sleep after completing a sleep cycle.
The average sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes. So if you want to wake up at 7 am, count backwards in 90-minute increments to get a bedtime that will put you in light sleep when it’s time for your alarm to go off.
7am < 5.30 am < 4am < 2.30am < 1am < 11.30pm < 10pm.
3. Improve your sleep
One of the biggest reasons that some people struggle to wake up in the morning is that they aren’t getting enough quality sleep at night. It’s like constantly trying to run on empty – there’s just no juice left in the tank for the get-up and go that you need in the morning.
To rectify this, you’re going to need to build a better sleep environment to improve the time and quality of your sleep at night. To get started, we recommend checking out these guides:
- How To Improve Sleep
- Why Is Sleep Important?
- Transform Your Sleep With Top 9 Tips For Good Sleep Hygiene
Need more sleep advice or tips? Make sure to keep up to date with the Sleep4Beginners blog.
