I Killed My Snooze Button
Anyone who's known me for more than half an hour knows that a) I'm kinda' useless first thing in the morning and b) I have a lifelong love affair going on with my alarm's snooze button. I hit it multiple times every single morning.
"Why do you use the snooze button so much?" my brother asked me years ago.
"I like to have some warning that I have to get up. Getting up is traumatic." I insisted.
"You know you have to get up when you go to bed the night before," he argued.
He had a valid point but I continued to love my snooze button.
But apparently, those things only have so much life in them and this morning, mine would snooze no more. I'm one of probably three people in North America who still uses an actual alarm clock instead of their phone. I've always set clear boundaries for myself about not having it in the bedroom. Perhaps I'm just being stubborn or set in my ways here.
My phone happened to be there last night because I was listening to some music before bed. I'm going to guiltily admit here that I actually set my alarm a little early for the sole purpose of being able to hit the snooze bar. So short story long, the alarm went off, the snooze button refused to snooze but it was not time to get up (and I would sell my own grandmother for five more minutes of sleep.)
So, I fumbled with the alarm on my phone. It didn't wake me up. I did wake up in time to get to work thankfully. When I double checked the phone's alarm, it sounded like fairy harp music. Lovely but not nearly industrial strength enough to wake me up. They call it an alarm for a reason. I really need to be alarmed if I'm going to actually wake up and fairy harp music isn't going to cut it. I'm sure my phone's alarm has other settings but I probably need fisher cat with a chainsaw and a punk band and I'm pretty sure that won't be one of them.
Now I have questions. Should I run to Walmart tonight and buy a new alarm clock and carry on with my snooze bar? Should I heave myself into the 21st century and start bringing my phone to bed with me like most of the rest of the world? The internet is a strange place so who knows? Maybe there really is a punk fisher cat with a chainsaw alarm somewhere.
Or, just maybe, it's time to break up with my snooze bar. I stayed up all night a few nights ago talking with a very good friend. I hadn't had a deep, all-night conversation in a long time in this one had probably been brewing for 20 years. Every morning since then, I've woken up right around 5am without the alarm. (This morning, I went back to sleep and let the alarm go off.) But what if I just got up when the alarm went off? What if I could actually, finally set that internal clock and wake up without the alarm?
I tell my yoga students that small changes in your physical habits often lead to larger changed in emotional habits. I know that this is true. You can try it out yourself. In the shower, wash something different first. Put your shoes on in a different order than you normally do. Try it out. See if your day or your attitude change at all.
So maybe my broken snooze button is actually an opportunity to do something different. If I were to change this long-held habit (which doesn't necessarily lead to good, more or better sleep anyway, despite the fact that I feel like I've gotten away with something by massaging the snooze button) what else would change?
"Why do you use the snooze button so much?" my brother asked me years ago.
"I like to have some warning that I have to get up. Getting up is traumatic." I insisted.
"You know you have to get up when you go to bed the night before," he argued.
He had a valid point but I continued to love my snooze button.
But apparently, those things only have so much life in them and this morning, mine would snooze no more. I'm one of probably three people in North America who still uses an actual alarm clock instead of their phone. I've always set clear boundaries for myself about not having it in the bedroom. Perhaps I'm just being stubborn or set in my ways here.
My phone happened to be there last night because I was listening to some music before bed. I'm going to guiltily admit here that I actually set my alarm a little early for the sole purpose of being able to hit the snooze bar. So short story long, the alarm went off, the snooze button refused to snooze but it was not time to get up (and I would sell my own grandmother for five more minutes of sleep.)
So, I fumbled with the alarm on my phone. It didn't wake me up. I did wake up in time to get to work thankfully. When I double checked the phone's alarm, it sounded like fairy harp music. Lovely but not nearly industrial strength enough to wake me up. They call it an alarm for a reason. I really need to be alarmed if I'm going to actually wake up and fairy harp music isn't going to cut it. I'm sure my phone's alarm has other settings but I probably need fisher cat with a chainsaw and a punk band and I'm pretty sure that won't be one of them.
Now I have questions. Should I run to Walmart tonight and buy a new alarm clock and carry on with my snooze bar? Should I heave myself into the 21st century and start bringing my phone to bed with me like most of the rest of the world? The internet is a strange place so who knows? Maybe there really is a punk fisher cat with a chainsaw alarm somewhere.
Or, just maybe, it's time to break up with my snooze bar. I stayed up all night a few nights ago talking with a very good friend. I hadn't had a deep, all-night conversation in a long time in this one had probably been brewing for 20 years. Every morning since then, I've woken up right around 5am without the alarm. (This morning, I went back to sleep and let the alarm go off.) But what if I just got up when the alarm went off? What if I could actually, finally set that internal clock and wake up without the alarm?
I tell my yoga students that small changes in your physical habits often lead to larger changed in emotional habits. I know that this is true. You can try it out yourself. In the shower, wash something different first. Put your shoes on in a different order than you normally do. Try it out. See if your day or your attitude change at all.
So maybe my broken snooze button is actually an opportunity to do something different. If I were to change this long-held habit (which doesn't necessarily lead to good, more or better sleep anyway, despite the fact that I feel like I've gotten away with something by massaging the snooze button) what else would change?
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