Let’s face it.. 4 AM comes pretty quickly after one shuts their eyes at night.  At least it does for me!  I opt to get up at 4 AM in the morning to complete my work as a consultant answering emails.  Getting the work done before the rest of the family gets up and before the regular 8 AM – 3 PM job starts, makes the day go much, much smoother.  The only problem, as I noted above, is that 4 AM is just plain early.

I’ve tried several different ways to wake myself using my HTC Wizard or HTC Hermes.  Initially, the Windows Mobile standard alarm was enough to do the trick.  After a while, the built in alarm sounds weren’t doing the trick any longer, so I opted for a well known clock / alarm program that allowed me to set alarms at higher volumes.  Again, initially this was quite enough to force the climb from the bed.  As days passed, the volume wasn’t enough so I started setting multiple alarms.  First at 3:55 AM.  Next at 4:00 AM.  By the second alarm, I was eager to get out of bed, just to stop the repeated ringing sound coming at my tired ears.  Multiple alarms were sufficient for some time, but eventually I developed an interesting habit while sleeping.  Turns out, my arm would reach to the top of my bedside dresser and pull the HTC Wizard close.  Sleepy eyes could still open enough to see the “Dismiss” notification, right?  Funny thing is, it was even easier to dismiss the alarm by pressing a hard button.  I became so adept at simply reaching up to grab the Wizard, placing it under my pillow and comatosely dismissing the repeated alarms, that it became evident it was time to do something new.

Enter G-Alarm.  G-Alarm is an alarm type program for Windows Mobile Professional that allows the user to set multiple, complex methods of dismissing an alarm.  One of the options asks the user to dismiss the alarm by answering a mathematical equation, forcing the user to actually wake, at least somewhat.  Another of the options forces the user to guide a ball through a small maze.  Will it work?  Will it be enough to get me out of bed over the next couple of days?  Check back in a couple of days to find out!