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Is The Snooze Button Sabotaging Your Business?

Beep, beep, beep! I roll over to hit the snooze button, and then think to myself, “Just five more minutes!” This is how the day starts for me,...

Photo: Koy McDermott, founder of Leaders Inspire Leaders, LLC; Source: Courtesy Photo
Photo: Koy McDermott, founder of Leaders Inspire Leaders, LLC; Source: Courtesy Photo

French poet and philosopher Paul Valery once said, “The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”

Beep, beep, beep! I roll over to hit the snooze button, and then think to myself, “Just five more minutes!” This is how the day starts for me, every time.

The terrible thought cycle of, “If I get just five more minutes, then I’ll be ready to go,” rarely works. As usual those five minutes, turn into 15, and I wake up groggy and irritated that the morning has done what it always does—come way too early.

I know I am not the only person that has a futile mental conversation like this in the morning. And after some research, I surprisingly found that the snooze button was a standard part of my morning routine that was actually killing my productivity, and with it, my business.

 

Five More Minutes

Your body has several ways of preparing your body to get up and get your day started. One of which is increasing your internal body temperature about 2 hours before you wake up, which makes you feel less sleepy and more alert.

When you hit the snooze button, you trick your body into thinking that you don’t need to get up and it reduces your internal temperature and you settle back into sleep. Sounds great right? Wrong!

Since your body needs time to adjust and wake you up when your snooze alarm goes off, it surprises the body and you are left with that groggy, fuzzy feeling. Worse yet, the more you hit the snooze button, the more you confuse your body, and thus the painful cycle continues.

 

Kiss ‘Snooze’ Goodbye

So, how do you begin to remove this morning routine that is crippling your productivity? I thought you’d never ask! Here are 3 ways you can regain control of your work hours and kiss the snooze button goodbye.

 

  1. Get optimal rest.

    This would seem like a no brainer, but notice I didn’t say get 8 hours of sleep each night. We are all different and because of that we all have different things that work for us. Some people need at least 8 hours of sleep and some need 5, but finding and sticking to a set number of hours is very advantageous when attempting to break a bad “snooze” habit.

  2. Stay consistent.

    Setting your alarm for the same time everyday can truly help you break this cycle. Eventually the consistency will help your body know exactly when to increase your internal temperature, so you wake up feeling more alert. As you are consistently waking up at the same time every morning, you will begin to naturally feel tired at the end of the day and you can begin to form an ideal sleep cycle. Don’t neglect the cues from your body when you begin to feel sleepy.

  3. Try a sleep cycle app.

    “The average adult human takes fourteen minutes to fall asleep,” so using apps to help track your sleep cycles can be helpful. I have used sleep cycle alarm apps to great success. You can try Sleep Cycle alarm clock by Northcube AB, SleepBot, or the SleepyTime: Bedtime Calculator.

    For most sleep cycle alarms, you can set the desired time that you would like to wake up, place your phone in your bed, I normally put mind under the sheet, and it analyses your sleep. Based upon the time you set it creates a range and wakes you in your lightest sleep phase. The app wakes you gently and since it is in your bed, due to movement, it knows when you are in your lightest sleep phase and wakes you up accordingly.

As I still have not mastered the “no snooze” technique I am challenging myself and you to a two-week no snooze #nosnoozechallenge challenge. I would love you to join me as an accountability partner and tweet me at @leadersinspire with the #nosnoozechallenge hashtag. Here’s to taking another important step in becoming the very best version of you!

 

This article has been edited and condensed.

Koy McDermott is an entrepreneurial leadership coach and founder of Leaders Inspire Leaders, LLC. His company aims to empower individuals to uncover their purpose and live a more fulfilling life. During his bi-weekly podcast Leaders Inspire Leaders, which can be found on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and SoundCloud, those willing to become the best version of themselves will find tools to intentionally move toward their goals. Connect with @leadersinspire on Twitter.

 

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