Thursday, February 8, 2007

That Damn Snooze Button

After mentioning the snooze button in my last entry, I decided to do a full spread on the topic. Many of you may know what I am talking about. There are people who hit the snooze button and there are people who don't. I have been hitting the snooze button since I was in high school and had to wake up myself instead of my mom coming in the room and yelling at me to wake up.

Since one of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to wake up earlier, I have been trying to set my alarm for earlier but I get sucked into this pattern of hitting the snooze button or resetting the alarm in my sleep, and I wind up having no time to get everything done in the morning! For instance, this morning I woke up too late to get my treadmill time done or eat breakfast! Now I will be starving for lunch and might choose the wrong things! So now my inability to wake up early enough has also caused me to have trouble meeting my weight loss goals. This is a bad cycle to get into. But I digress.

I have definitely come to the full realization that hitting the snooze button is an evil thing. You would not believe it but there are a lot of internet resources on why people hit the snooze button and its evils. This author explains that even if you do hit the snooze button, you are not getting an extra dose of the kind of sleep you would really need to feel more rested. He suggests setting your alarm clock to the exact time you usually wind up getting out of bed so you can at least get more of the deep sleep rather than light sleep.

Another reason many hit the snooze button is because they want to gradually awaken. This is a reason I tell myself for hitting that dreaded thing. Again, this author, Jeff Wong, makes a good point. Wake up a little bit earlier so you can lay in bed for a few seconds or look out the window. jump in the shower that much quicker. Have a glass of water by your bed to help wake you up. You can even buy one of those alarm clocks that mimics the sun rising.

If all else fails, you may need Clocky to get you out of bed and going in the morning. Clocky is an adorable little alarm clock that has the ability to jump off your night stand and run around your room when it goes off in the morning! That way you are too busy trying to find him to hit the snooze button!

For more on the great article by Jeff Wong entitled, "My Take on the Snooze Button", check out his website: http://www.fanfic.net/~jeffwong/rant63-snooze-button.html

2 comments:

Johnny Noodles said...

As a non-snooze-buttoner, my suggestion may have limited utility for you.

I find it helps to pull the covers off and sit at the edge of the bed for a little while. It takes the edge off of morning.

Secret Simon said...

Clocky sounds brilliant, but all you *really* need is a very loud alarm clock *on the far side of the room*. It isn't kind but it's effective. Thanks for your comment on my blog. I'm glad you find it useful!