You snooze? You loose!

This is another story about my experience with Mel Robbins’s Mindset Reset, the 30-day program which I followed in January 2019.

Now: I am not a chronic snoozer, but sometimes I do get tempted and I know that many of you are tempted every day.
The other day a friend of mine confessed that she sometimes snoozes up to an hour.

After reading this I am sure that you will think twice before ever hitting the snooze button again.

Snoozing impacts your neurology. It impacts your brain functions and not in a way that it contributes to a fulfilling life in which you can call yourself successful, loving and inspiring.

Why do we want to hit the snooze button in the first place?

1. Safety.
In the surroundings of your bedroom, warm under the covers you feel safe. Why would you ever exchange that for the unknown?
2. Delaying.
When we snooze we allow ourselves to delay facing the things we have to face that day. A new job, an exhausting commute, a tiring rehearsal, a sneaky conductor, that language class, the long meeting with your business partners…Oh if we could only delay more, we think while we turn over and crawl deep under the covers.
3. Overwhelm.
In our present world, we are all dealing with many stimuli. Some say too much!
This can give us a feeling of overwhelm and even anxiety. Snoozing gives us the feeling that we have control over what is happening around us and so we don’t have to be overwhelmed.

So the initial idea of: “Let me snooze for a couple more minutes!” comes from wanting to protect ourselves and also from FEAR to deal with new things.

BUT hitting the snooze button is something we should actually fear as it is quite a dangerous thing to do because it impacts your brain a lot.
It has a negative impact on your productivity, your mindset, your happiness, your mental health state, and your ability to be a deliberate thinker.

What happens when you hit the snooze button?

As you might know: When we sleep, we experience ‘sleep cycles’ of about 75 to 90 minutes.
After 2 or 3 sleep cycles, your brain and body will start to get into a mode where it is preparing you to wake up.

So: when you wake up…and you hit the snooze button. What do you think your brain thinks?
“Oh? No need to get up yet? Then I will start another sleep cycle!”
But a sleep cycle lasts 75 to 90 minutes, so snoozing will only make sure that when you drift off into that sleep cycle, your alarm will rudely hit you awake.
And guess what: your brain is still stuck in the sleep cycle.

“Who cares?” You say?

When the moment comes that you have to wake up after hitting the snooze button 2 or 3 times, your brain is in, what scientists call: Sleep Inertia.
Maybe you’ve heard of: Drunken sleepiness.

And it can take your brain up to 4 hours to get out of that!

Why is Sleep Inertia a bad thing?
-It decreases your ability to think deliberate.
-It can make you feel confused and disorientated.
-It decreases your work performance.
-It impacts your speed of progressing things.
-It impacts any kind of strategic thinking.
-It impacts your ability to focus.

So maybe snoozing is not the best thing to start your day with?

But on your free day:
Monday is my free day and it sometimes happens that I allow myself a little bit more sleep than the usual days.
I turn around and fall asleep to find myself waking up 1 hour or 1,5 hours later.
That was a sleep cycle from start to finish. No sleep inertia.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Leave me a comment if you like.
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