I’ve been having a really hard time sleeping lately. Blame it on loud neighbors, jam packed work schedules leading to bottomless thoughts, excessive drinking, fashion weeks, or the steam pipe bursting in my building causing a clicking sound in my bedroom walls. Whatever is the culprit (s), it has been impacting my sleep.

Traditionally I’m someone who sleeps for 8 hours minimum but my average this year has been about 4-6 and it’s challenging me in all aspects of my life. In an attempt to get back on track, sleep through the night, and have quality sleep, I decided to improve my sleep environment and invest in a white noise machine.

After doing extensive research on how to improve sleep and block out noise, I discovered that sound machines are the solution and resources for all good sleepers. Of course, it’s not at all a requirement, but after using it for the last few days, I find it to be life-changing. It’s important to be aware of a situation, but even more important to put action to it. Treat yourself to a little upgrade with a gadget or tool that will make your life easier. There really is no shame in that. Streamlined life and better sleep? Who could be mad at that.

I narrowed my options down to three and ended up testing out a small white noise machine that also doubles as an alarm clock. After much research I discovered that it’s best not to sleep with your phone. And to make sure I wasn’t sleeping till crazy hours, I wanted a white noise machine that could double as an alarm clock on days I absolutely had to be up early.

The Hatch Restore is an affordable option at only $130 and is an innovative bedside gadget that will lull you to sleep and ease you awake. It’s a sound machine, sunrise alarm, smart light, meditation app, and alarm clock all in one sleek gadget. Basically, you turn it on, select what white noise you want to play via the app, and then select what color it should mimic to wake you up, and what natural sound it should play. I selected sunrise colors and birds chirping for the most natural wake up, and it’s amazing what it has done for my routine.

There’s also some great meditation apps to help you sleep too.

Photo via Hatch