I swear by this concept: http://www.homedics.com/products/soundspa-sunrise.html Even just a simple timer on a lightswitch or lamp works for starters. I find the natural sunrise effect to be less jarring however. I used to use an X10-type system as well, controlled by a server to dim lights at night and brighten them in the am. This was ideal but X10 was flaky so I'm using the SoundSpa Sunrise until I can upgrade to something more reliable.