For everyone who presses snooze more than three times in the morning.

It’s called Sleep Cycle and it was the app that was meant to change my life. I expected an immediate transformation from someone who hits “snooze” way too many times than a grown up should into someone who needs only the mildest of prompting to get out of bed after simply a stretch and an absent smile at the prospect of a new day.

If I could just get up 30 minutes or even one hour earlier each day I know my entire morning would run more smoothly. I know that because occasionally I manage to do it. Like the morning that our crazy dog Sadie jumped on me at 5am, or the morning that I was busting to wee and got up to do it only to find toothpaste smeared all over the sink by unnamed children the night before.

By the time I had finished cleaning it up I was wide awake.

Funny fails of sleep-deprived mums. Article continues after this video.

I’ve tried:

Using multiple phone alarms;

Setting phone alarms and putting the phone across the room;

Asking my husband to set his alarm too and wake me up;

Asking my husband to call me from work at the time I need to get up;

Setting just one phone alarm with a note attached about why I really, really, really need to get up straight away;

Setting alarms on both my phone and my son’s phone as a back up, with my phone on my bedside table and his phone across the room;

Going to sleep in workout gear so I am more inclined to get up and do a set of mind-clearing push ups.

Locking the cat in the house for the night knowing as soon as the sun starts to rise she will be busting for a wee herself and meow until I get up and let her out.

Going to bed earlier.

Exercising the night before so I can sleep in a bit without guilt and wake up like one of those happy, fit people.

NOTHING has worked.

Ways to wake up earlier:

Smart phone apps such as Sleep Cycle or Alarm Clock Extreme;

Improving sleep quality by making the room darker, telling everyone to be quiet and not using devices at bedtime;

Going to bed earlier and sticking to it;

Developing a mentally tough attitude whereby you just get the hell out of bed;

Get more organised the night before so the morning isn't dreaded but looked forward to as some quiet time;

Only set one alarm and disable "snooze" if possible;

Set alarm one hour before you want to wake up so you get to enjoy the sensation of going back to sleep without overusing the "snooze" button;

Visualise your ideal morning the night before and try and think of it again when your alarm goes off;

Organise to meet a friend for an early morning walk.

That's when I Googled sleeping apps. I'd read that if you wake up during a light sleep as opposed to a deep sleep it is much easier to get out of bed. The app Sleep Cycle works by tracking your sleep each night.

You type in when you want to wake up and it will wake you up somewhere around that time when you are in a light sleep and more likely to get up.

It hasn't worked so far.

It's way too easy to hit "snooze" on that too and the gentle music it plays as its version of an alarm doesn't help. Neither does the piercing squeal of my phone alarm, come to think of it. I need to find a clock radio with a giant hand that just comes out and slaps me across the face.

Maybe I can ask my husband to pour a bucket of cold water over my head but seeing how I reacted when he tried to wake me up and/or call me from work at the designated time, he quit as my morning-waker-upper-er.

I used to be much better. About a year ago I would get out of bed at 5am sharp, exercise, shower, eat breakfast, then get the kids up and it was amazing.

Now I just can't do it anymore. I never feel rested. What is going on?