But if not, I think you’re going to want to read this…
See, I used to be one of those people that hit the snooze button not just once, but upwards of five times before finally getting out of bed. Now mind you, I worked up to that number, but it didn’t change the fact that the more I hit the snooze button, the more I struggled to keep my energy up, let alone function at peak productivity for the whole day.
… let me tell you what was happening from a scientific perspective, so you can see what I mean…
You know when you first get out of bed and you’re half-asleep, not really firing on all cylinders? Sure you’ve got some morning breath, and you could use a hairbrush, but physically and mentally speaking, you’re not quite there yet?
Well, actually, the scientific term for this feeling of grogginess: it’s sleep inertia. It’s the period of time your body is still in, well, a sleep state, including parts of your brain that haven’t quite woken up yet.
When you wake up, your brainstem arousal system, that is the part of your brain responsible for basic physical functioning, is activated…BUT there’s a part of your brain – the prefrontal cortex (PFC) – that typically needs 30 minutes to catch up with the rest of your body.
The PFC is kind of a big deal because it’s the part of your brain that’s responsible for decision-making and self-control. So, during sleep inertia our reaction time, memory, alertness, and ability to perform various analytical tasks is slooowww.
Sleep inertia can last anywhere from 1 minute to 4 hours! Can you think of what factors contribute to it lasting around the 4 hour mark?
Yup! That snooze button is a big one for sure.
Every time I hit the snooze button, I was keeping my PFC from actually doing what it needed to: to wake up – I was basically forcing it to stay in sleep state, and when I needed it to actually wake up, like when I needed to make a decision, it was hitting the snooze button on me! Bring on Miss. Indecisive…
How you wake up every day is a big part of how you feel every day, and it’s not just hitting snooze that impacts sleep inertia. I included a checklist below from my Make It Happen Coaching Program – It may help you see things that could use some tweaking so you can reduce sleep inertia and feel alert all day.
To start the day right, might I suggest practicing waking up without the snooze button. Better yet, put your phone (and/or alarm) across the room, so you’re not tempted to reach for it and snooze. Like you haven’t heard that before, right? haha. I get it, remember, I was there too.
So what do you say we make a challenge out of it then?
For the next 10 days, commit to NOT HITTING SNOOZE. When your alarm goes off, GET UP! No matter how much you don’t want to. This is a mindset change – it’s not easy, but it is doable! If I can do it, you can do it too. Write down how you feel before the challenge, and every day moving forward for the next 10 days. What do you notice? Email me or let’s have a conversation on Facebook.
I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly your body learns new patterns when you set your mind to it, and more so how many people struggle with this. Before you know it, you’ll be waking up without your alarm, and having all sorts of energy and productive days!
