Waking up in the morning can be difficult, but that is not the case. With the right song choices, your body can be gently ushered into a more energetic state. Thus, helping you start your day on the right foot..
In 2015, Spotify joined forces with David M. Greenberg, a doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge. The goal was to curate the perfect playlist, backed by science.
The musical profiles of different songs have different physiological and psychological effects. One of the main bodily effects is the gradual blending of the music's beats per minute (BPM) with your heart rate. For example, when your heart rate matches the BPM of the most relaxing songs The most relaxing songs of all time, according to Science The most relaxing songs of all time, according to Science "The most relaxing melody of the story" is actually a thing, and Scientists have determined a Top 10 list of relaxing songs. It's about time we revisit some of those more reassuring numbers. Read More
This effect is also observable when listening to the perfect exercise playlist. Science says it's how to make the perfect workout playlist. Science says it's how to make the perfect workout playlist. The number of beats in a song can change how you feel. Now, use clean software to make your own exercise playlists with the right kind of songs and boost your exercise sessions. Read more . By finding the optimal heart rate for your workout, you can also find music that matches that BPM. Research shows this helps your heart find and maintain that rhythm, affecting lap times and perceived exertion.
So when the goal is to find music that helps the body wake up from sleep efficiently, you should (according to Business Insider) be looking for a few different things:
If it seems like too much effort to create your own playlist of songs that meet these requirements, you can use this playlist developed by Spotify and David M. Greenberg.
This playlist is obviously not for everyone. Audition Hit The Quan I'd only see myself diving out of bed to slam the sleep Button, before diving back under the covers. But it's not too difficult to create an alarm clock playlist based on your own tastes.
When creating your own morning playlist, you're looking for a playlist that not only wakes you up, but also continues to play in the background as you go about your morning routine Discover New Ways To Hack Your Morning Routine With Technology Discover New Ways To Hack Your Morning Routine morning routine with technology The promise of a productive day rests on an effective morning routine. Design well and it will help you be happier, more productive and more efficient. Take one step at a time. Read more.
The first song, the one that really wakes you up, should be pretty soft. After that, you can gradually increase the tempo and introduce stronger beats. This means effectively leading to a motivational crescendo.
The playlist created by Spotify is compiled almost exclusively from songs with a positive tone and uplifting lyrics. And this is a strategy you should copy too. Most of the songs in the playlist above also have a BPM between 100 and 130.
With this in mind, some song ideas you might want to consider include:
When it comes to finding suitable songs, you can check your choices against the SongBPM database. This will tell you the BPM of individual songs. Or you can use AudioKeychain, which will suggest songs based on their genre and the precise BPM you're looking for. And if you're struggling to find invigorating new music to add to your playlists, check out some of these amazing music discovery websites 7+ Easy Ways To Discover New Music You'll Love 7+ Easy Ways To Discover New Music You'll Love will love The depth and breadth of music to be discovered these days is mind-boggling. The problem is knowing where to look. We're here to help with an amazing list of resources just for you. Read more.
As long as the first song in your playlist is saved to your phone's memory card, the easiest option is to simply set that single song as your alarm. This is easily done on most devices using most alarm apps. Once the song has finished, manually press Play on the rest of the playlist (on the device you want).
This is because most apps that play entire playlists as alarms Can't work in the background. As soon as you use your phone for something else, the music will stop playing.
However, if you want to play an entire playlist as your alarm, there are several options.
If you are an Android user, Play Music Alarm and Music Alarm Clock allow you to play entire playlists from various popular music player apps.
Alternatively, if you have organized your morning playlist as a selection of videos on YouTube, you can set that YouTube playlist as an alarm using Easy Alarm YouTube [No longer available].
Finally, another much-loved alarm clock app is DoubleTwist's alarm clock. Any playlist you have saved to your DoubleTwist player can be set as an alarm.
If your playlist is inside Apple Music or iTunes (on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod), a great free app is Nightstand Central. This is a full-featured alarm app that allows you to select any song from Apple Music or iTunes (or song) as an alarm. Another recommended alternative is Alarm Clock Pro, which works in a similar way.
If your playlist is saved to Spotify (available to paying customers), try Alarmify [No Longer Available]. Android and iOS apps are apparently created by different developers, but they work in a similar way. The Android app has fantastic reviews, while the iOS app is pretty negative. However, as an iOS user, as long as you leave the app open, click Sleep button works fine. An alternative, more powerful Android-only option is Sleep As Android.
Introducing a Morning Playlist to Your Morning Routine 3 Simple Ways Technology Can Help Build Your Morning Routine 3 Simple Ways Technology Can Help Build Your Morning Routine With a little thought and creativity, you can create the perfect start to your day, your way. If you're still working on your morning routine, here's some inspiration. Read More 3 relaxation techniques to help you sleep better. 3 relaxation techniques to help you sleep better. Sometimes it takes too long to fall asleep. Technology can help us sleep better with the help of better sleep habits. Try these suggestions to turn off your brain. Read More Isn't it great when someone shakes you in the morning and makes sure you're awake? If you're a serial snoozer like me, you know all about how to lengthen your alarm from five o'clock… Read More .
Even if you don't set your morning playlist as an alarm, it's handy to have on hand to hit Play as soon as you're downstairs preparing your first caffeine hit.
The psychological and physiological effects that a carefully curated playlist will have are almost guaranteed to help boost your mood, increase your motivation, and improve your productivity.
And now it's up to you to let us know which songs help you wake up in the morning. Please let us know in the comments below!