Sometimes it takes three alarm clocks. Sometimes it takes Emma, an 80-pound Labrador sitting by the side of her bed, thumping her tail to get Kera Storrs awake at 3 a.m., in time to make the muffins at Great Harvest Bread Company.

The 24-year-old Bloomington woman sets two alarm clocks and a digital kitchen timer a few minutes apart to make sure she's on time.

At least she'll be off Sunday, when Daylight Saving Time pushes us all out of bed an hour earlier.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 moves the spring time change ahead three weeks, from 2 a.m. the first Sunday in April to 2 a.m. the second Sunday in March. The lost hour won't be regained until 2 a.m. the first Sunday in November, a week later than usual, to give trick-or-treaters an extra hour of light.

Grace Hopkins of Bloomington doesn't have any trouble popping out of bed. She's always been a morning person and hits the floor after her cell phone alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m.

"I'm the happiest person in the morning," she said, before teaching a 6:30 p.m. exercise class. "It used to drive my roommates crazy."

The 25-year-old usually has a cup of coffee, with extra sugar, but she has another secret to her morning sweetness.

"Milk Duds," she said. "Milk Duds for breakfast."

Mike Duggan's alarm goes off at 6 a.m., two hours before he has to be at work. The clock sits across the room, so he has to get up and turn it off. But he resets it and climbs back into bed.

"I'm perfectly pleasant in the morning but I'm not terribly functional," the 36-year-old Bloomington man said.

When it goes off the second time, he gets up, showers, irons and waits for "The Practice" to come on at 7 a.m., which he watches while downing two cups of coffee.

Personal chef Brian Bowman of Bloomington gets up with the help of Boo, a 13-year-old Labrador mix who can barely make it up the steps but will hang out by the side of his bed.

But it's his internal clock that usually awakens him.

"It's a trick I learned a long time ago, when I was a summer camp counselor," he said. "I'd have to get up before my kids did and I'd just think about what time I needed to get up. I don't know if it's meditation or anxiety."

Although his goal is to be up by 7 a.m., he stretches it a half hour "if it's really yucky outside." And sometimes, "those covers get you in a death grip and they won't let you go."

Meditation eases Chris Danosky of Normal into her day. She gets up about 5:30 a.m., before her husband and two teens, and sits in the quiet darkness on the couch for a half hour.

"I really like to have that time," she said. "Then I can start getting everybody else up."

When Reiki practitioner Carolyn Gray of Bloomington gets up at 5:30 a.m., she also turns to meditation.

"I do a half hour of contemplative prayer in my prayer chair."

Deb Wannemacher of Bloomington isn't a morning person but she hears the automatic coffeemaker grinding beans about 6 a.m.

"It sounds like an airplane taking off."

Her husband, Steve, relies on his internal clock to lift him from sleep about 5 a.m. But if he has to get up earlier than usual, he sets an alarm that he puts in a closet across the room, forcing him out of bed.

A morning walk on Constitution Trail and checking e-mail bring him into the day.

Hitting the shower gets Sharon Gatto going. The Normal mom also thinks drinking water at breakfast helps.

"I find I'm actually dehydrated and thirsty in the morning."

To get to work by 7 a.m., mother-of-two Erin Kennedy has to get her sleep. Lights are out at 9 p.m. in her Bloomington home and she's up at 5 a.m. A shower and a little time alone help her wake up.

The best way to avoid feeling sluggish in the morning is to get enough sleep and have a regular bedtime, said George Haake, director of the Midwest Center for Sleep Medicine in Bloomington.

Reduce your caffeine after lunch. Don't exercise within four hours of bedtime, make sure the room temperature is comfortable and never watch TV in bed.

"If you're always sleepy no matter how much sleep you get, that's a bad sign," he said.

He calls the time change a nuisance.

Arnold Natzke of Pontiac would agree. He was teaching high schoolers in 1974 when President Nixon signed an energy conservation act that set clocks ahead for a 15-month period. It was still dark during his first class period.

"It didn't work," he said. "And I don't think it'll work this time."

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Snoozing tips

Many of us wake up feeling sluggish because we didn't sleep well. You should get enough sleep that you feel well-rested nearly every day. Here's some advice on how to do that from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:

• Begin rituals that help you relax each night before bed, maybe a warm bath, light snack or a few minutes of reading.

• Avoid reading, writing, eating, watching TV or talking on the phone in bed.

• Make your bedroom quiet, dark and a little bit cool. It should remind you of a cave. While this may not sound romantic, it seems to work for bats, who are champion sleepers, getting about 16 hours of sleep a day.

• Get up at the same time every morning, even on weekends and holidays.

• Avoid taking naps. If you have to nap, keep it to less than an hour. Never take a nap after 3 p.m.

• Keep a regular schedule. Regular times for meals, medications, chores and other activities help keep the inner body clock running smoothly.

• Avoid caffeine after lunch.

• Stop drinking alcohol six hours before bedtime.

• Avoid nicotine before bed.

• Don't go to bed hungry, but don't eat a big meal before you settle down either.

• Avoid strenuous exercise within six hours of bedtime.

• Avoid sleeping pills or use them cautiously. Most doctors do not prescribe sleeping pills for periods of more than three weeks. Do not drink alcohol while taking sleeping pills.

• Try to release your anxieties before you go to bed. Your bed is a place to rest, not worry about everything that happened that day or your to-do list for tomorrow.