Do you snooze your alarm for a few more minutes of extra sleep? If ‘Yes’, then this blog is a “Must read”. (Featured image credits: Photo by Anna Tarazevich)
In the morning, when the alarm goes off while you are in bed, it’s time to get up. However, you might not feel ready to start the day. Without a second thought, you hit the snooze button and continue to sleep. The next 10 to 20 minutes pass by like a blink of an eye. Then, you either wake up or snooze the alarm again, repeating the cycle. Does this sound familiar to you? You might be doing this, thinking it brings some perceived benefit which does not exist, but in reality, you are doing more harm to yourself.
Every day, we all want to wake up at a specific time the following morning. Waking up marks the first activity of each day for everyone. Based on our comfort, lifestyle, priorities, and professional demands, we live different lives and wake up at different times. Most of us use an alarm to wake up in the morning. When you think about the alarm, you think, “When to wake up?”
In reality, “How you wake up?” is much more important than “When you wake up?” response
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In this Blog...
The theme of this blog “How to wake up the right way?”.
We choose to snooze the alarm for extra sleep, believing there’s a perceived benefit which, in reality, does not exist. In fact, we are doing more harm to ourselves. In this blog, I will discuss five ways we harm ourselves by waking in the wrong way. Additionally, I will identify five causes of this behavior and present five solutions to overcome it.
The mind map below captures the ideas discussed in this blog.
To understand this blog better you need to understand sleep cycles and the body hormone melatonin.
Sleep Cycles and Melatonin
Sleep Cycles
- When humans sleep, they experience a sleep cycle that lasts for a duration of 90 to 100 minutes (Some research suggests the cycle duration as 75 – 90 minutes).
- Within this cycle, there is a pattern: they enter a deep sleep state, spend some time in this stage, and come out of it again. (The complete details of stages in a sleep cycle are beyond the scope of this blog. You can read this article on stages of sleep.)
- One cycle follows the next, and in 7 to 9 hours of sleep, there are 4 to 6 such cycles.
After completing these 4 to 6 cycles, your brain is ready to enter the wake-up stage.
Melatonin
- Melatonin is a hormone produced in response to darkness.
- It plays a crucial role in timing the internal body clock and regulating our sleep.
- At night, the level of melatonin increases, inducing a feeling of sleepiness.
- As morning arrives and light is detected, the level of melatonin decreases, aiding in waking up.
However, the key thing to note is that being exposed to light at night can block melatonin production.
5 Reasons Why You Should Not Snooze the Alarm
Most of us snooze the alarm for a good reason – to squeeze in a few more minutes of extra sleep. We believe that this helps us achieve better sleep quality and leads to a refreshed day. However, this understanding is incorrect. Among the many reasons why we should not do this, the top five are:
Reason 1: You are training your mind to procrastinate
How does it happen?
- Every time you snooze, the indirect message to your brain is “Not now” – This is the strong root of procrastination.
- Moreover, you do this not for one day, but every day, that too as the first activity in the morning.
- Just imagine how you have trained your brain by doing this for several years.
The repetitive act of hitting the snooze button has a profound impact on your mindset and behavior. Transitioning from sleep to wakefulness, you inadvertently reinforce the habit of delaying actions, setting a tone of avoidance for the rest of the day. Over time, this deeply ingrained pattern can significantly contribute to the development of procrastination in various aspects of your life.
Reason 2 – It affects your sleep cycle
We experience sleep cycles that last for 90 – 110 minutes. However, when the alarm goes off, it disrupts the ongoing sleep cycle. It is quite rare for the alarm to coincide with the end of your natural sleep cycle.
After the alarm goes off, you tend to snooze and sleep for an additional 10 – 15 minutes. During this time, a new sleep cycle begins, but here’s the crucial point: the brain only enters the 90 – 110-minute sleep cycle, yet you wake up after just 15 – 20 minutes. As a result, the sleep cycle again remains incomplete.
In reality, your sleep cycle breaks twice. The first break occurs when the alarm goes off, and the second one happens when you wake up after the brief snooze. As a result, taking a tiny nap after snoozing does not actually improve the quality of sleep. Instead, it leaves us in a state of sleep disturbance when we finally wake up.
Reason 3 – Confused brain… jumbled hormones
Two things happen when you wake up:
- Firstly, the production of melatonin drops as this hormone is not needed during the wake-up stage.
- Secondly, other hormones like serotonin, cortisol, adrenaline, and non-adrenaline increase to prepare you for the day.
However, the brain becomes confused when you snooze-sleep-wake. When the alarm goes off, you enter the wake stage, during which certain hormones increase while melatonin drops. But when you snooze, go back to sleep, and start a new sleep cycle, your body requires melatonin for sleep. As a result, your brain is left wondering “Which hormone to secrete?”— disrupting the natural wake-up process.
Reason 4 – Wrong message on Sleep Quality
Snoozing sends a wrong message to the brain about your sleep quality, conveying two main points:
- Insufficient Sleep: By hitting the snooze button, you are signaling to the brain that your previous sleep was not enough, and you still need more rest.
- Desire for Extra Sleep: You are conveying the message that you need an additional 15 to 20 minutes of sleep to feel adequately rested.
Reason 5 - Psychological defeat
By snoozing, you actively postpone the first activity of the day – waking up. The timing you initially set as the alarm was your own choice, but now you avoid it, which can make you feel like you’re accepting defeat, believing that you are not capable of waking up as planned, right from the start of the day.
As a result, snoozing affects both your body and mind. The outcomes are poor sleep quality and increased mental tiredness when you finally begin your day. Contrary to what is often believed, this additional 10 to 15 minutes of sleep is not restorative. Instead, it disrupts your sleep-wake cycle and prevents you from experiencing truly rejuvenating rest.
What is Multi Snoozing?
Every time the alarm goes off, you actively snooze it and sleep an extra 10 to 15 minutes. This repetitive behavior occurs multiple times before you finally get out of bed. As a result, your sleep cycle starts and breaks three to four times in the morning itself. By repeatedly engaging in this snoozing pattern, you are inadvertently teaching yourself to procrastinate multiple times within a short period, magnifying all the negative effects discussed above.
What are the causes for snoozing?
There could be many reasons. Two major reasons would be (1) Lack of sufficient sleep at night and (2) Poor quality of sleep. To identify the root cause of your fatigue, it’s essential to probe deeper into your lifestyle and sleeping habits.
1. Duration of Sleep
This answers whether you get enough sleep at night. It leads to another question: “Do you go to bed on time?” If you consistently stay up late at night but still want to wake up early, then you are being hard on yourself.
On average, 7 – 9 hours of sleep are needed for most individuals. Since your wake-up time is fixed, you already know how much sleep you require. Therefore, it’s crucial to plan your day’s closure the previous night accordingly.
2. Bedroom Environment
The environment where you sleep significantly impacts the quality of your rest. Your bedroom should fulfill the following conditions:
- No/Less Noisy: It should be a quiet space, free from disruptive noises that can disturb your sleep.
- Dark with Only Sufficient Brightness: The room should be adequately dark to promote a conducive sleep environment. Avoid excessive artificial lights that can interfere with your sleep.
- Right Temperatures (Neither High nor Low): Maintaining a comfortable temperature in your bedroom is essential. Extreme heat or cold can negatively impact your sleep quality.
- Comfortable Mats and Pillows: Your mattress and pillows should provide proper support and comfort to promote restful sleep.
3. Avoid Coffee/Tea
Avoid drinking coffee or tea within 3 -4 hours before you go to bed.
4. Avoid Mobile Usage at Night
Once you are in bed, avoid using your phone. This activity plays havoc with your sleep cycle. When the sleep cycle is disturbed, it negatively affects your sleep quality, making it difficult to wake up in the morning.
5. Habit
Has snoozing become a habit? You might have been doing it since your younger days and continue to do so.
You believe that a 15-minute nap after snoozing is restorative. However, just imagine how powerful and effective 7 – 8 hours of quality sleep could be. So, do not compromise on the duration and quality of sleep.
How to Overcome Snoozing?
To overcome snoozing you need to focus on two areas:
(1) At Night: You need to ensure that you have quality and sufficient sleep. This is the most fundamental thing to overcome snoozing. A good restorative sleep makes snoozing unnecessary. As discussed in the previous section titled “What are the causes for snoozing?”, the ways and means covered there need to be seriously addressed. Once this aspect is taken care of properly, the next area becomes much more manageable.
(2) Upon Waking Up: You should not snooze. The straight solution is to stop the alarm, get up, and force yourself out of bed. However, it is easy to say but difficult to do. Try any of these options:
Option 1 - Keep Alarm far from Reach
Do not keep the alarm near the bed. Keep it far from easy reach or in a different room. When the alarm goes off, you will be forced to get up and stop the alarm. By creating a more challenging environment, you can effectively put off the tendency to sleep and avoid the temptation to snooze.
Option 2 - Five Seconds Rule
This is an idea by Mel Robbins. This is a hack to use when you are in situations of procrastination and hesitation. When the alarm goes off, instead of snoozing, you can employ a simple technique: say “5-4-3-2-1” and get out of your bed.
Option 3 - Sleep and Wake at the Same Time
Try to set an alarm at the same time every day. If your routine requires you to wake up at 5:30 am, make sure to have an alarm set for 5:30 am consistently. Similarly, establish a regular bedtime every night around the same time.
Option 4 - Physical Movement
Once you stop the alarm, do not continue to lie in bed. Instead, sit up, change your posture, and make some physical movement. Moreover, turn on the lights or wash your face.
Option 5 - Exposure to Light
Light, a powerful source, signals the brain to suppress the generation of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Once you stop the alarm, get up, and open the curtains to allow sunlight. If there is no (1) direct sunlight or (2) sunlight when you wake up, turn on the lights.
By getting up and taking these actions, you also bring in the physical movement discussed in the previous option.
In Summary...
Wake up without snoozing, and you will have completed the first activity and set yourself up for a positive start.
If you find yourself tired when you go to bed and feel the need for more rest, avoid setting an alarm or have it at an extended time. This is a better option than snoozing and going back to sleep.
In situations where you have to wake up very early and may feel tired, refrain from telling yourself that you didn’t get enough sleep. Instead, take a shower and start the day.
Do try these options and share your experiences in the comments. By adopting these practices, you can cultivate a more mindful and energized morning routine, setting the stage for a productive and fulfilling day ahead.
This was incredibly insightful. Thank you.
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Very useful information. Thank you..