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I’m a recovering snooze button addict. Each morning when my alarm would go off, I would press the snooze button, convinced that getting up was not better than cuddling with the dog in our warm and comfy bed. You’ve probably done it too – the Snooze Button Tango, the back and forth of falling asleep and waking up every 9 minutes for however long it takes you before you absolutely MUST get out of bed. The Snooze Button Tango didn’t leave me feeling more well rested in the morning, but was certainly getting in the way of getting things done. The best thing I ever did for myself was clean up my sleep hygiene.
We try to eat clean, work out right, but are you keeping your sleep habits as clean as possible? Good sleep hygiene means getting to bed early enough to get a full night’s rest, preparing yourself for restful sleep (like rolling on your YTU Balls, Coregeous ball, meditation, etc) and getting out of bed in the morning. Not just waking up, but actually getting out of bed without pressing the snooze button 50 million times and spending the next hour turning off the snooze alarm 9 minutes.
Fighting with the snooze alarm doesn’t just waste time, it actually forces your body to fall deeper asleep. Your body wants to stay asleep too, so when your alarm rips you out of your deepest sleep and you press the snooze and try to get back to sleep, your body actually tries to get back to where it was, but putting you into an even DEEPER sleep state. The next time your alarm goes off, its pulling you not just from 3 feet under, but now you’re 6 feet under, and it only goes deeper the longer you cycle. No wonder you’re so groggy after an hour of the Snooze Button Tango!
At the start of the New Year, I decided to challenge myself to get my butt out of bed the minute the alarm went off. I was literally tired of sleeping and losing precious time to do the things I wanted to do. I am not a morning person by nature, but the morning has always been when my best creative juices flow and I have time to workout.
I’m not going to lie and tell you that getting out of bed was easy (obviously not since it took me until February 16th to be successful!) but I can proudly say I haven’t pressed the snooze button in two weeks. The 50 million excuses for staying in bed haven’t gone away, but my desire to get stuff done helps to crawl out of bed.
Here’s how I did it: when my alarm goes off, I sit up. It may still be another minute or so before I actually stand up out of bed, but I’m up. Once you’re out of bed, try to do something that doesn’t require a lot of brain power – I’ve chosen dishwashing to give me more quality time with the family in the evenings. 15 minutes later, all the dishes are clean and I’m awake!
By the time I need to leave for work, I’ve been up for hours getting all the stuff I wanted to accomplish done, like writing a blog, rolling on my therapy balls, or working out. These are the things that I need to do to nourish my self and I was really feeling the negative effect when they were gone.
We nourish ourselves with good food, hydration, good workouts, but make sure you also nourish yourself with quality sleep, both at night and in the morning!
So tell me, are you addicted to the snooze? What’s your biggest challenge to getting out of bed in the morning?
Should you use the snooze button? Watch the video below for the science behind the snooze!
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