For somebody who isn’t particularly tech-savvy or “plugged in,” I can hardly believe how a few gadgets have made a significant (and welcome) difference in my day-to-day. First there was the Philips goLITE BLU which saved my butt from the SADs. Then, the Philips Sonicare toothbrush came into my life and forced me to take my brushing game up all the notches. To complete the trifecta, I got the opportunity to test out the Philips Wake-up Light, which has since become one of my favourite possessions. 

You see, I’m one of those people who keeps their phone on ALL THE TIME; I’m always nervous about emergencies, sick grandparents, etc. I also happen to have a goofy phone number, which means that I end up getting a lot of weird calls, and sometimes they’re very, very early. Throw in THREE dogs and my ever-changing roster of shrieky pop ballad alarms…it’s fair to say that I’m used to being startled awake. And I never thought that there was anything wrong with that.

In hindsight, I now realize that the disruptive wake-ups of years past were doing nothing but creating chaos first thing in the morning. Ever since I started using the Wake-up Light, my morning routine feels more pleasant and relaxed. 

It works by simulating the sunrise and getting brighter thirty minutes before I set my wake-up time. The light is quite pretty and slowly gets brighter and brighter until it looks and feels like my entire bedroom is flooded by sunlight. 

Then, two minutes before my desired wake-up, the sound kicks in and increases over a minute or two so it’s quite gentle. There’s a choice between radio and nature sounds, which I love.

Most days, I wake up before the birds even have a chance to start chirping. Although sometimes I like to stay in bed for an extra 10 minutes. I pull the sheets over myself and the dogs, and pretend that we’re waking up in a tent on a camping trip. It’s a silly but serene little exercise.

The initial set-up may take a little tinkering (there are 10 settings for light intensity) but the lifetime of this guy is approximately 25,000 hours. I don’t want to do the math (because lazy), but that sounds like A LOT of hours and value.

Now, for the fun part — CONTEST!

I’ve loved testing all these gadgets, and want to extend the opportunity to one of our readers, who will have a chance to score the Philips goLITE BLU or Wake-up Light – the choice is yours!  

To enter to win the Philips goLITE BLU, tweet:

“Hey @shedoesthecity, I can sure use a little blue light therapy in my life, please send me a #Philips goLITE BLU.

(PSSSST. For the benefits of blue light therapy, check this out.)

To enter to win a Philips Wake-up Light, tweet: 

“Hey @shedoesthecity, I’d love to wake up to a gentle sunrise, please send me a #Philips Wake-up Light.”

Contest closes April 20th. Good luck!