This Popular Sleep Find Transformed How My Partner and I Wind Down

I’ve never had much trouble falling asleep (I’m lucky, I know). Waking up, however, is a totally different story. I snooze my phone alarm at least five times, then proceed to check my social media feeds before I’m even fully conscious. Fast forward 30 minutes, and just like that — I’m running late. Suffice it to say that it wasn’t the peaceful “slow morning” routine I wanted for myself. Not to mention, exposing myself to the never-ending onslaught of awful headlines first thing upon waking was taking a toll on my mental health. 

I’d seen rave reviews of the Hatch Restore 3 online, and it looked like just what I needed to change my mornings for the better. After using it for the past four months, I can say that it not only improved my mornings — it also changed the way I think about self-care.

The Hatch Restore 3 is a smart sleep device designed to optimize your wind-down and wake-up routine. It’s pretty much a night light, noise machine, and sunrise alarm clock — all rolled into one top-of-the-line device. The Restore 3 allows you to build a customized nighttime routine (on the Hatch app), accompanied by soothing ambient sounds and light designed to support relaxation before bed. You can choose to wake up to the sounds of birds chirping, the bustling cityscape, or even the voice of Alan Cumming rousing you out of bed for a Traitors-inspired moment. The Hatch Restore 3 has an impressive library of sounds — but you’ll need a Hatch+ subscription to access it, which costs $5/month. 

Unlike the brand’s previous iteration, the Hatch Restore 2 (which editors also loved, BTW), the Hatch Restore 3 has more features that let you get the most out of your device without relying on the phone app. You’re getting a physical knob that lets you easily toggle between routines and turn off your alarm with a tap, along with extra buttons that let you control the light and sound without your phone (so you can leave it in another room and avoid doomscrolling). 

The Hatch Restore 3 inspired a breakup that was long overdue: the one between me and my phone. I started leaving my phone outside my bedroom and now rely on the device’s sunrise alarm to gradually lift me out of sleep. It keeps me from doomscrolling morning and night (which is a major win for my psyche), and its slow-build sunrise and wake-up sounds are the one-two punch I need to wake up at the first ring. I’m no longer a habitual snoozer — I finally wake up feeling more rested, calm, and ready for the day. 

Another unexpected benefit of using the Hatch Restore 3 is the way it promotes peaceful moments before bed. My personal wind-down routine involves 20 minutes of red light and the soothing sound of ocean waves. Together, they create a calming ambiance for quiet analog activities like reading and journaling, giving me the space for some much-needed escapism and self-reflection before bed (without the noise and anguish of my news feed). 

My husband normally goes to bed later than I do, but when he saw me reading my book in the Restore 3’s calming red glow, he couldn’t help but read alongside me. Now it’s something we do every night! What started as a self-care upgrade for me ended up changing our nightly routine as a couple. Plus, the device’s wind-down routine concludes on its own, so we can drift off into dreamland without interruption. 

Buy: Hatch Restore 3, $170