Want to Be More Alert in the Morning? Switching to a More Melodic Alarm Could Make a Big Difference
When it comes to waking up each morning, odds are that you may need to use an alarm to roll out of bed. Whether it be soothing sounds from your smartphone or an old-fashioned alarm clock that dings, the tone you wake up to each day could impact how you feel for the hours to come. Which sound is better? According to MedicalNewsToday, a study out of The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University says those who listen to a blaring, beep-like alarm tend to feel groggier than those who awake to harmonious melodies.
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To determine the best way to wake up each day, the study's researchers provided questionnaires to 50 participants to discover their alarm sound of choice and how they felt after waking up to that noise every morning. The researchers discovered a connection between the tone of the participants' alarms and their perceived intermediate state between sleeping and waking. "We think that a harsh 'beep beep beep' might work to disrupt or confuse our brain activity when waking, while a more melodic sound like the Beach Boys' [song] 'Good Vibrations' or The Cure's 'Close to Me' may help us transition to a waking state in a more effective way," Adrian Dryer, the study's co-author and associate professor at RMIT, shared.
Related: How a Sunrise Alarm Clock Totally Reinvented My Mornings
In addition, the study's authors highlighted that the way you wake up can influence thinking in the workplace. "If you don't wake properly, your work performance can be degraded for periods up to four hours, and that has been linked to major accidents," Stuart McFarlane, lead author and doctoral researcher at RMIT, said.
While the study's authors noted that more research is still needed on this subject matter, the current discoveries will help those that need to be more aware on a regular basis or in the case of an urgent situation. "[The findings are] particularly important for people who might work in dangerous situations shortly after waking, like firefighters or pilots, but also for anyone who has to be rapidly alert, such as someone driving to [the] hospital in an emergency," McFarlane said.
