I never liked my alarm and quite frankly I really hate my husband's alarm. He usually wakes up 1-2 hours before I do and it's always a mix of loud beeping and static-filled radio. Annoying! When I found out about LARK, I knew I had to test out this new kind of alarm that wakes you up silently and works in conjunction with your iPhone or iPad. The main component is a little square device that charges in a dock. You download the LARK app to your iPhone or iPad and the two pieces work together to not only wake you up on time but also track your sleeping patterns.
The device is worn on the wrist with an included velcro band. I am not a person who likes to wear jewelry to bed so I was pleasantly surprised at how lightweight the device felt on my wrist. I barely knew it was there. I chose to use the app on my iPad which would eliminate any potential message alerts I usually get. If you do use your iPhone, it can rest nicely on the LARK dock.
Let's talk alarm first. Instead of loud beeping, the alarm wakes you up with a small vibrating motion. You can then choose to "snooze" for another 10 minutes by going to your iPhone/iPad and pressing the snooze button or you can choose to wake up by turning off the alarm. Once you do, all the data that was collected when you were sleeping is displayed on a graph noting the length of time you slept. It notes the times you woke up in the middle of the night as well as your period of deep sleep time. As a backup in case you forgot to charge your LARK, an Peace of Mind, an audio back up alarm will sound.
To start using LARK to it's full potential, I did the recommended 7 day sleep assessment and my husband agreed to wake up with me each weekday morning at 6:50am. From my data, I realized this made the difference because my deepest time of sleep was usually in the 3am to 6am time. I know I probably shouldn't have done my Downton Abbey marathon night while I was doing my 7 day sleep test, but it definitely showed me data-wise that I couldn't make do in the day with just 4 hours of sleep. At the end of it all, I also realized my sleep sweet spot was sleeping 7-8 hours a night. The app includes tag buttons you can press in the morning to note things like "woken up by someone" or "had caffeine". There were nights I was woken up by my daughter and even my dog, which I would note in the tags for that night's sleep. Too bad there wasn't a Downton Abbey tag, haha.
I was able to try out LARK pro which I recommend completely. It takes all your sleep data and has a coach give you an assessment of your sleep type and recommendations on how to sleep better. With a toddler, anything can happen during the night so my label of "Rookie-Erratic" is correct. I do know that I can control the Rookie part so it's up to me to get myself to bed a lot earlier. TV shows, reading, blogging, surfing my iPad should wait until the next day.
LARK is new and currently works with iOS on the iPhone/iPad but Android isn't too far behind. (Read this support note.) I honestly recommend this alarm to everyone. I can't imagine anyone likes to hear their alarm but it's even more useful to couples and those who are new parents. LARK is perfect if you a partner who snores and you need to wear ear plugs. You can still wake up on time! This alarm is also perfect if you have a baby sleeping in your room and you need to wake up without waking up the baby. You also can't beat having your own personal sleep coach to help you get a better nights sleep.
Buy LARK for just $99 for the device or $159 for LARK pro which is your personal sleep coach for one year and helps improve your sleep. (You can also upgrade your LARK to LARK pro later for just $60.)
LARK Tips:
- Make a quick read through the User Manual or FAQ if you have questions.
- Make sure you don't set your alarm and unplug your LARK device, until you are actually going to fall asleep. (i.e. You can read in bed and set your alarm after you are done reading.)
Watch this You Tube video to find out more about LARK.
