The Snooze Button

I am a fan of the snooze button. there's a certain comfort in knowing that hitting the snooze button on the alarm will allow you a few more precious minutes of sleep before you have to get up, without the fear that you will totally miss the alarm.

However, I'm beginning to believe that it really is not good for me. Example:

1. Alarm set at 7:45am.
2. Alarm goes off, I hit the snooze button.
3. 6 snooze button presses later (at intervals of 8min), it's 8:33am, and I'm still not out of bed.
4. I'm now regularly late to work (lucky my boss is relatively lenient on time of arrival!)

The snooze button implies delaying the inevitable. There's an unwillingness to face a new day by attempting (somewhat pointlessly) to grab those few more minutes of sleep. And since you really can't fall asleep within an 8min timeframe, you just lie there, waiting for the next alarm to go off.

Obviously I am comfortable in the state I'm in, but is there a more sub-conscious reason about the excessive use of the snooze? Probably not, but I'm going to attempt some meaningful ie random dialogue below. Yes it's Friday, I'm in Melbourne, people did not come to my training session, so I'm searching for more meaning in my life :)

Am I just tired?
Do I not want to face the day ahead?
Is my job that bad that I'm willing to be late all the time?
Is it because of the inherent nature of people in being resistant to change?
Am I STILL recovering from that Gold Coast buck's weekend?

Strangely enough, if you have something really important going on early in the day ie having to go to the airport at 6:00am, you will automatically wake up and get yourself ready without any snoozing action.

So here's the resolution. Have to get up on the first alarm, no excuses. I did it this morning, and I feel better already!

Damn! thirteen cheap calls already:

Can relate. Also am a snooze-aholic. Always remember not to put anything breakable between ur bed and the alarm clock as all the hand-to-button action should happen with ur eyes still closed. I do think sometimes that after multiple repetitions of alarm, snooze, alarm snooze, u prob could have just set the alarm later and gotten a more decent half hour of uninterrupted sleep.
pskis - 02 September '04 - 16:24

haha...an interesting post about something we hardly think about but is such an integral part of our lives! I love the snooze button...thankfully i'm usually up after one snooze cycle, else my boss wouldn't be too happy!
dsd (email) (link) - 03 September '04 - 15:39

Good to know it's not just me who's a snooze-button junkie! The twilight between sleep and consciousness is just so blissful, that plus enjoying something illicit that you're not supposed to be enjoying makes it all the more sweeter.
beckster (link) - 04 September '04 - 16:09

Update:
I put the alarm to once off only today, woke up at 7:45am, and promptly stayed in bed till 8:30am, even without the alarm. :(

"something illicit"? I didn't know the snooze button was a criminal offence :)
JookBoy (link) - 05 September '04 - 05:55

i use my phone as my alarm clock. does it have snooze? hehe....
addy - 05 September '04 - 15:05

as a matter of fact, the mobile phone alarm clock does have a snooze button - but you gotta pick up the phone and hit the snooze button through half dazed squinting eyes and you know how big they make them phones these days.
ue - 05 September '04 - 17:23

i am snooze queen - so much so that i now have to set my clock half an hour fast. then set my alarm for half hour before i need to get up (which is actually an hour before i need to get up cause my clock is fast). alarm goes off and can hit snooze button multiple times - feels like sleeping in for and hour and eventually get up 15 mins before need to really leave the house - get up get dressed and get out the front door! - it's all psychological i tells ya :)
mushiejc (link) - 05 September '04 - 17:45

Geeeeez Bec, what kinda dreams do YOU have?! I want some "illicit" dreams like that! HA!
...
...
note to self: stop verbalising thoughts out loud.. ;p
So (email) - 05 September '04 - 18:50

*deadpan* I used the term 'ilicit' loosely to describe the enjoyment of something you know you're not supposed to ie. chocolate after spin class, wallowing in bed when you KNOW you need to get your fat azz to work.

No comment on what I'm dreaming about when I'm abusing the snooze button!
beckster (link) - 06 September '04 - 06:10

Getting out of bed in the morning certainly does have a subconscious element to it. You are correct in saying that when needed at the airport by 6am you automatically wake up. Why? Perhaps it is purely based on the fact that you are expecting something different in your day. Yet it may be the fact that you have mentally prepared yourself differently.

For example, thinking of the list of all the things you have to do to get yourself on the plane (get out of bed, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, pack your luggage, drive, park etc) can become overwhelming and undesirable. However, if you instead focussed upon WHY you were getting on the plane you will easily motivate yourself.

Similarly, this applies in your Monday to Friday morning routine. If your thoughts are focussed on what must be done(get up, go to work, work all day, spend time with people you don't like, etc), as opposed to WHY you are doing them (build a future, provide for your family, meet new people, buy a house etc) you will have trouble getting out of bed on the first alarm.

Or you could make it even simpler by moving your alarm clock to the other side of the room (or into another room) so you are unable to reach it from where you are sleeping.

We all need a compelling reason to get up in the morning. I am normally up by 5:30 each morning and find that by getting out of bed, putting my sneakers on (right next to my bed) and leaving the house for a walk is a perfect morning routine which gets my day started.

Basically, if you aren't jumping out of bed in the morning excited about a new day, then your passion for life is lacking. Either that or your significant other is awake...
taipan - 09 September '04 - 07:17

Wise words taipan, totally agree. The even stranger thing I noticed was that today (Saturday), I woke up feeling quite fresh at 6:00am, even though I went to bed at 1:30am! Must be something good happening today
JookBoy (link) - 10 September '04 - 08:05

I too am a fan of the snooze button, however it's gotten so bad that now I have to set my initial alarm for 5:45am. This provides a large enough time period for me to hit snooze about 12 times before I eventually roll out of bed by 7:30am, heh.
riss (link) - 12 September '04 - 08:24