How to turn iTunes into an alarm clock

Hey everyone, Mat here, Household Hacker’s newest contributor, and resident OS X expert!
I thought for my first article, I would write about a problem that I think many of us, including myself, have. Do you ever find yourself waking up in the morning, and you just want to go back to bed? Perhaps you don’t like your job, or your alarm went off by accident on a weekend. Or maybe your girlfriend, Heather, left you for your downstairs neighbor, Todd. Whatever the reason, we’re going to show you how to turn your Apple computer into an alarm clock that motivates you to turn over the covers and fall back into blissful sleep.


What you’ll need:


1. An Apple, running OS X 10.4 or later.
2. Automator, iTunes, and iCal (These are all found in your Applications Directory)
3. Self-indulgent music or songs. I recommend anything by The Cure, Bright Eyes, or Dashboard Confessional




The first step in the process is to open the Automator application. A window will pop up, asking you to select a workflow. Select “iCal Alarm.”
Great. We’ll touch on iCal later, lets get to actually building the script.



Next, select Library on the left. To the right of that is a Search Bar. Search for “Set Computer Volume.” Drag that into the workflow area and set the output volume to however loud you want your music to be.




Delete your search entry, and search for “Launch Application.” This is the same as above, but drag it under Set Computer Volume. In that window, there is a drop down menu to select the Application to run. Select iTunes.




Now, under the Library menu on the left, there is an option for Music. Click on it, and look for “Start iTunes Playing.” Same as before, but be sure to drag it under Launch Application.
Great! Now, save it to whatever you like. I chose “Alarm Clock.”




After doing so, your iCal now launches and creates a new Calendar based on this Automator Script. You can now set this Alarm Clock to run whenever you like. I’ve set mine for 11am, as that is a reasonable time for me to wake up, and realize that I don’t ever want to get out of bed.






With all that done, your iTunes will now launch within about 30 seconds of when it passes the event time. iTunes by default will play the first song in your music library. If you select shuffle in iTunes, it will play a random song every time the alarm goes off!
And that’s it! Now, whenever you wake up, you will wake up with the smug realization that you have nothing left, and comfortably go back to sleep, away from the world.
Note: Household Hacker does not take any responsibility for any actions taken after listening to The Cure while weeping silently under the bedsheets. Come back Heather, I miss you so much.