Have you ever wondered how people woke up in the old days?  I’m not talking about the 80’s, either; I’m talking the 1880’s.  You know, waking up for work isn’t a modern invention, but the older generations had some pretty clever ways of getting up in the morning, most of which still work today.  Mental Floss put together a list of 7 ways older generations got up on time.

Among the more ingenious methods (that still works today) is overdrinking.  Basically before bed, you drink a bunch of liquid and in a few hours, you’ll wake up to use the bathroom (or wake up wet, depending on how heavy a sleeper you are).  I knew people in college who did that to wake up for tests and such.

Today, I have no less than five alarms to make sure that A) I wake up on time and B) I don’t just turn the alarm off and go back to bed without knowing I’ve done so.  My alarms are set for 5 AM, 6:15, 6:45, and 7:00.  Now that I’m used to get up early, waking up at 5 isn’t so hard, but it still helps to make sure I’ve got backup plans in place, just in case I can’t drag out of bed in time.  They’re all digital alarms, though; there’s not a clepsydra in the bunch!