Set the alarm clock for 7:06 am

How to use the online alarm clock

Waking at 7:06 am means the filming equipment is still waiting to be loaded while you shake off sleep and get your bearings. There is enough time before 8:00 am to dress, check the cases against the kit list and move everything carefully, without treating the next hour as empty time.

The alarm needs to be audible beyond the ordinary sounds of this particular start: running water, a kettle, cupboard doors or cases being shifted towards the car. The selected volume should be tested from wherever those noises will happen, because a signal that seems clear beside the phone may disappear across the room. If the browser page is closed or the phone goes to sleep, however, no alarm will sound, so the equipment could remain unloaded. Keeping the page active and the phone awake avoids relying on a signal that cannot play.

Before lifting cases and heading out in the early morning, a small, familiar breakfast can fit more comfortably into the schedule than a full cooked meal. Water or tea can be prepared while checking batteries and memory cards, with anything slower left until after the sunrise location is reached. Keeping a drink in a sealed bottle also prevents an open mug becoming another thing to manage beside delicate kit.