Every night last week, I noticed the same pattern. Would put my daughter to bed around 830, lie down in bed with my wife while we watched tv, scrolled on our phones, or just talked until about 10.

At 10ish, we would start getting ready for bed, but lazily. We’d look up and say “oh man, it’s 10 already we should probably get ready for bed” and then scroll like 5 more minutes or watch 10 more minutes before actually getting ready for bed.

By the time we were lights out and actually fell asleep it was pushing 11pm.

I know I’m at my best n the morning and with a good night’s sleep but something was telling me that going to bed early wasn’t cool or that I needed time to wind down and enjoy my nights. But I wasn’t really enjoying them or looking forward to that time or anything like that. I was just killing time until 10ish and then waking up exhausted.

So this week I decided to try setting a bedtime alarm.

Every night at 915, an alarm goes off on my phone to get ready for bed (and then again at 920). It feels early but the alarm helps me get up and get ready, and so most nights this week, we’ve been lights out by 935 and asleep by 945. I’m waking up more refreshed and I honestly don’t care that we had to stop last night’s Summer House episode in the middle (1- because the show is not that good, and 2- because I got better sleep).

If you’re having trouble getting to sleep on time, and struggling to wake up most mornings, maybe a bedtime alarm might help you, too.

Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.