Find more time in your day — and sleep better — by learning how to kick the snooze button habit for good.
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Episode Transcript
Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to quit the snooze button.
When it comes to how we spend time, I think
the snooze button is one of the most unfortunate inventions
ever created. That's not because I think everyone should get
up at the crack of dawn to run marathons or
(00:22):
anything like that. I think snoozing is bad because I
love my sleep. I love deep dream inducing, brain restoring sleep.
Sleeping in nine minute increments, on the other hand, is
the worst of all worlds. You're not getting up and
starting your day, but you're not enjoying deep sleep either.
(00:44):
That said, like many evil things, the snooze button is
very tempting. I'm not a big snoozer myself, partly because
I have a lot of young children. They don't come
with snooze buttons. But I've studied thousands of time logs
over the years, and I know a lot of people
hit snoop out of habit. It's not uncommon to spend
(01:04):
half an hour or more each weekday morning in this
half asleep state. That's too bad because hitting snooze repeatedly
amounts to starting each day with an argument that you're
going to lose. Eventually you are going to get out
of bed. It seems more efficient to just get up
once and be done with it. So if you'd like
(01:24):
to quit the snooze button habit, I've seen a few
things work for other people. My first suggestion is just
to be honest with yourself. Be honest about the time
you intend to get out of bed. Rather than setting
your alarm for five am and then snoozing until six thirty,
such your alarm for six thirty. Do this even if
(01:45):
you have to be out at the door for work
ten minutes later. Yes, you'll be late, but in the
snoozing world you were late to In the non snoozing world,
you'll have gotten forty five more minutes of amazing sleep. Ideally,
that will make you well rested enough to solve whatever
problems your tardiness caused. Second, don't rely on willpower change
(02:09):
your environment. Instead, try getting an old fashioned alarm clock
that has to be physically reset, or even if you
plan to use your phone, put it on the other
side of your bedroom. By the time you're out of bed,
Getting back in seems more consequential than just rolling over
You might even put a coffee maker in your room,
just like there are coffee makers in hotel rooms, and
(02:31):
program it to have a cut brood at the time
you wake up. Third, plan something fun for your morning.
We'll talk a lot about morning routines on before breakfast,
but I think the best way to think about it
is this. If you celebrate Christmas, you know that kids
don't hit snooze on Christmas morning. This past year, even
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my eleven year old was out of bed at five am.
This is a child that I have to rouse with
some effort on weekdays at seven fifteen. Normally, he was
just so excited about the day to come. I know
every morning can't be a holiday, but what would make
you genuinely excited to get out of bed? Maybe it's
(03:13):
meeting a friend for a run, or getting some quiet
reading or writing time in before everyone else in your
family gets up. Excitement makes snoozing less tempting. And you
know what else makes snoozing less tempting, getting enough sleep.
The whole snooze button issue becomes less relevant if you
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naturally wake up before your alarm. I promise it's not impossible.
In an upcoming episode, I'll share some tips for getting
to bed on time so you can wake up on
time ready to take on the world. In the meantime.
This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. M Hey, everybody got a
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tip or a question. You can share them with me
on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's
be the number four then breakfast p o D. You
can also email me at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart
media dot com for the email to spell those words out.
I look forward to connecting and learning how you make
(04:23):
the most of your time.
Before Breakfast News
Host
Laura Vanderkam
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