If you are like many people you have hit the snooze button on your alarm clock on occasion. But for some people it’s more than an occasion, it has become a ritual.
Many people begin each and every day by hitting the snooze button at least one time, if not more. The idea is that it will give them more sleep and make them more rested for the day. However, the opposite is actually happening. Hitting the snooze button is killing their days.
For many years I was terrible about hitting my snooze button, or sleeping through my alarm. It just seemed like I could never get enough sleep. I would wake up every morning tired, and convince myself that hitting the snooze button would make it better.
But what almost always happened was nearly the complete opposite. I would wake up even more tired than before I hit snooze, I would be running late for the day, and I would have a bad attitude about anything I had to do that morning.
After reading a number of great articles and books about the power of a morning routine, I decided to give it a shot and creating one for myself. You can read about it here. The results have been amazing. I feel so much better and more productive.
I have realized the extent of the negative effects that hitting the snooze button was having on my life.
Hitting Snooze is Killing Your Day
The snooze button is a powerful thing. Unfortunately it does not use its power for good. It results in the following 3 things happening:
- It leads to waking up groggy. Hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep creates confusion for your body. When you wake up to your initial alarm, you brain thinks it is time to get up, but once you lay back down to sleep again your brain takes it as a false alarm and tries to head back into deep sleep. When the snooze alarm then goes off a few minutes later your brain and body are confused and many times it can result in feeling groggy, or like you are in a “fog.”
- It gives you a negative outlook on the day. Have you ever noticed that days you hit the snooze button, or hit it multiple times, you tend to have a negative outlook on waking up. You find yourself saying things like “why is it already morning?” and “I am so tired, I didn’t get nearly enough sleep.”
- It encourages procrastination. Hitting the snooze button is nothing more than the act of telling your day to “hold on” until you are ready for it to begin. It is the ultimate form of procrastination. Starting your day out by making the choice to procrastinate sets you up to procrastinate on many more things in the day to come.
So what can you do to change your habit?
It all starts with your mindset. Start your day the night before when you set your alarm. Tell yourself that you WILL get out of bed when it goes off. Remind yourself that there is not an option to snooze. Zig Ziglar refers to it as an opportunity clock rather than an alarm clock. Make the choice not to snooze your first opportunity of the day.
For some people this may be the only step you need to take. When your alarm goes off the next morning you will wake up and the reminder you gave yourself the night before will be on the top of your mind.
I am like this some days. But some days I need a bit more help.
If you are like me and need more help then do yourself a favor and make it impossible to not get out of bed. Set multiple alarms within minutes of each other. At one point I had 4 alarms set at the following times: 5:30 am, 5:31 am, 5:32 am, 5:33 am, and 5:34 am. The sheer annoyance of my phone alarm going off every minute inspired me to get out of bed at the first one and then turn all the rest off.
You can also try moving your alarm clock. Whether you use your phone or an actual alarm clock, try moving it across the room. Having your alarm within arms reach of your bed is a recipe for disaster if you are a snoozer.
Most importantly, when you wake up to your “opportunity clock” and get out of bed do the following 4 things:
- Smile and say something positive about the morning to yourself.
- Turn on lights.
- Go splash some cold water on your face.
- Get a glass of water and begin rehydrating from the nights sleep.
The quicker you do these 4 things the sooner you will feel awake and ready to attack the day.
It is so important to learn to wake up with your alarm, at the time you determined the night before. Doing so is one of the best things you can do to improve the way you feel, and increase your productivity through the day to come!
Question: How many times do you hit the snooze button each day? Comment below or join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter!
