Getting up in the morning has to be one of the hardest things we have to do. And it’s not just a one-time thing either. It’s something that has to be done everyday. So it goes; every day we are rudely awakened by our alarm clock screaming into the quiet revelry of our slumber. Well no more. With this How2, we’re going to learn how to set up an alarm clock that won’t scream at us every morning, and that might actually make waking up easier.

Here’s how we’re going to do it. We’re going to set up several macros. We’re going to start with a gentle river, or ocean waves, or a thunderstorm, or some music, whatever you like to wake up to. From there, we’re going to bring the lights up slowly until they’re at full brightness. Then of course we’re going to get that coffee pot going so that you can wake to the smell of fresh coffee. Who knows, by the time we’re done here, you might not mind so much getting up in the morning. Of course there’s nothing we can do about morning itself, but that’s just a cross we all have to bear.

First of all, let’s start with the music. Some people like to wake up to music; others like to wake up to the sound of birds chirping or water running. That’s your own choice. So set up a stereo "boom box" and plug it into an ActiveHome Appliance Module. Choose what type of sound effects you would like to wake up to. If you have a CD of running water, or gentle surf, or birds chirping, put that in your CD player. Make sure that he power’s on, and the CD player is on automatic play.

Next let’s set up a nice lamp in your room, and hook that into your ActiveHome Lamp Module. Also be sure to plug your coffee pot into an Appliance Module as well.

From here we’re going to set up some macros. We’re giving you a lot of practice with the macros, because they allow you to do so much with the software and the hardware. We’re going to make three different macros that are going to work in conjunction with each other to give us the desired effect we’re looking for.

So to set the macro, the first thing you need to do is run the ActiveHome software from your computer.

From there, click on the "M" (macro) button on the far right side of the interface. This will bring up a separate box with options for creating macros. On the right side of the interface you will see a list of the various appliances that you’re running through your computer.

Click on the icon that says "Stereo" on the right hand side of your screen, and drag that icon to the left side of your screen. When you do this, you will see a dialog box that will ask you "What type of macro do you want to create?"

Tell it that you wish to create a standard macro.

Then do this again, only this time grab the icon labeled "Bedside Lamp" and drag it over to the left hand side of your screen. But with this one, drag the macro until a red-line/box appears around the first macro, and drop the icon in there. Once you’ve done that, set the brightness at 20%. Right click on the "Lamp" icon, and then click on "Delay Time." Set the time delay to 10 minutes. This will allow the music to play for ten minutes before you see any lights.

Then grab the icon labeled "Bedside Lamp" again. Again, drag it into your macro. This time a "Delay Time" dialog will appear. Set the delay to 15 minutes, and set the lamp to 40%. Grab the "Bedside Lamp" icon again, and set the delay time to 20 minutes, and the lamp at 60%. Then do this again, only set the delay time to 25 minutes, and the lamp to 80%. And once again, and this time set the delay time to 30 minutes, and the lamps to 100%. This way you have the lights coming up slowly, and waking you a little at a time.

Now find the "Coffee Pot" icon, and drag that into your Morning Mood Macro. Right click on the "Coffee Pot" icon, and then go to "Delay Time." Set the delay time for 25 minutes. That will turn your coffee pot on at 5:55 am, and have the smell of fresh brewed coffee wafting through the house as soon as you wake up at six.

Now go back to the standard ActiveHome interface.

There you will see the macro you just created.

Click on the empty black box below "Morning Mood." This will bring up your timer settings.

There you’ll see a setting for "Time," "Day," and "Options." In "Day," click on "Weekdays." That way the macro will only work Monday thru Friday.

Depending on what time you have to be up, we’ve set the macro to start a half hour earlier than you actually have to be up. Don’t worry, we’re easing into this so you won’t actually lose sleep, and we’ll actually give you more time in the morning. So let’s say you have to be up by 6:00 am. Let’s start the clock at 5:30 am. (Once you’ve had practice doing this, you will be able to set the parameters however you like.)

Now you have some soothing and relaxing sounds playing as you sleep, slowly calling you to consciousness, but in the way nature intended for you to wake up.

At the bottom of the interface, click on "Next."

Then click on "Weekends."

In this settings, set the timer to go off at 10:00 am. That way you get a little time to sleep in.

Now click "Okay."

From there, you will be asked if you want to save changes to the macro. Just say, "Yes."

Now you may be thinking, I can do all this using my timer on my coffee pot, and using a radio. But this way you have everything controlled at one central location, and it will turn everything on, and then off again as soon as you’re ready to leave.

So with all that in mind, go out there and get yourself ready for a new way to start your days. With this new way of waking up, you probably won’t even need to hit your snooze button.

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