Hatch Restore 2, after a year.

Of all the devices in the stack, the one that produces the most reliable behaviour change at the lowest cost is the one nobody calls a biohack: a sunrise simulation lamp on the bedside table.

A bedside lamp with programmable sunrise and sunset sequences, integrated soundscape, and a small app. Sits where an alarm clock would. Replaces the alarm clock.

Morning light exposure is the single most powerful signal to the circadian system. The lamp begins a 30 minute light ramp before wake time, simulating sunrise. The body wakes from a lighter sleep stage, with less cortisol spike.

The underlying mechanism — morning light timing as a circadian zeitgeber — is one of the most replicated findings in chronobiology. Specific studies on dawn simulation devices (Thompson et al. 2014, Gabel et al. 2013) show improved morning alertness and mood at moderate doses of simulated light.

Anyone who wakes feeling drugged. Anyone whose bedroom has poor natural morning light. Anyone in a winter latitude. Anyone with a partner who needs to wake at a different time and can’t tolerate a phone alarm.

Anyone in a bedroom with strong unblocked morning sun — you already have the better version. Anyone who already wakes naturally and consistently.

Sunrise ramp begins at 6:30am, peaks at 7am with a soft chime. Sunset routine begins at 9:45pm, fades to dark by 10:15pm. No phone in the bedroom — the Hatch handles everything an alarm or sleep aid would.

Wake time shifted forward by 90 minutes in week one and has held for fourteen months. Sleep efficiency on Oura up 3%. Morning energy is meaningfully different. What didn’t shift: total sleep duration, which the lamp doesn’t affect.

— Alvin