This Sleek Alarm Clock Changed My Nighttime Routine Forever (and Gave Me Good Sleep Back!)

I know it’s bad for me when I don’t have a solid sleep routine. And yet — despite everything I know about how every sleep doctor in the world says to not use your phone for an hour before bed — I simply cannot stop. What can I say? I love my phone!

I know just how important a solid sleep routine is and how impactful using your phone before bed can be. But, despite knowing this, I simply cannot stop using my phone. I made vows that I’d change up my behavior and set up a consistent, healthy bedtime routine — but I could never keep it up. My biggest excuse? My phone doubles as my alarm clock. My therapist recommended that I try an old-fashioned alarm clock instead, so I finally decided to start looking for one. 

That’s when I stumbled across the Hatch Restore 2. I already knew about the brand because I’ve spent many nights in my parent’s guest bedroom (which doubles as a nap room for my niece and nephew) and they had a mini model (that’s no longer in production) there. I would sometimes use it for the white noise feature, and it knocked me out all night. 

I was excited to give this model a try. Though Hatch has since upgraded their model to the Restore 3, what drew me in was that it was more than a white noise machine. It’s also a very fancy alarm clock that doubles as nightly bedtime routine enforcement. The clock works with an app but, crucially, is operable with buttons. 

In the app, I set up my “routine” to start off with a fun history podcast (History of the World from A to Zonked with Matt Stewart) and then move into a calming sound bath, and finish with pink noise or rain sounds, depending on how I’m feeling that night. I also set up my morning alarm (for the same time Monday through Friday) and picked the sound of the alarm (calming flute sounds that slowly get louder as a sunrise light gets brighter) and a morning meditation from Jada Essence Hall. 

My clock comes with two buttons on the top — one for cuing when I’m ready for bed and the other for turning off my morning alarm. The “routine” also comes stacked with customizable colors to emanate from the clock at each stage of the routine, but notably is totally dark once the white noise kicks in.

With my routine all set up, my phone is no longer part of the equation! I can say with certainty that I have been using my phone way less right before bed. The design of my routine “stack” makes it so that there’s no way I could simply try to sleep as soon as I’m done with phone time, anyway. 

The history podcast I get to listen to every night is like the perfect transition between trying to sleep and simply listening to something with my eyes closed. It’s about 20 minutes long and a deep dive on something weird in history. Then I get to soak up the sound bath, which is usually where I start drifting off. And once the white noise starts playing, I’m totally out for the night. 

So, is the clock essentially an alarm clock with bells and whistles? Yes! But the bells and whistles are really nice, actually give me a nightly routine that does not require or include me going straight from screentime to bedtime, and perhaps most importantly, means I can avoid harsh phone alarms for something way more calming every morning. 

The other nice thing about the clock is that once the white noise starts, the “time” on the clock is invisible. I often find that when I wake up in the middle of the night and struggle to get back to sleep, the worst thing I can possibly do is look at my bright phone to see what time it is. The clock’s design makes that harder to do, which makes it easier for me to fall back asleep and worry less about the time on the clock.

I also set up my clock to slowly get brighter and emanate a warm, golden glow for 15 minutes before my alarm goes off in the morning, so if I wake up and notice that the clock is beginning to glow, I know that it’s about time for me to start my day, anyway … all without checking my phone right as I open my eyes, or overnight while I sleep. The alarm itself is also super calming, and slowly gets louder and louder over time — making it less jarring than a loud ringing of bells every morning that makes me jolt awake. 

In any case, I wish I had listened to my therapist a long time ago (likely story!) and got this clock much earlier. It’s helped me take control over my bedtime routine — banished the need for my cellphone in any respect overnight — and is simply luxurious. It makes every night feel like a self-care ritual, rather than just going to sleep. 

Buy: Hatch Restore 2, $194.99