Get Up
“Success comes to those who have the will power to win over their snooze buttons.”
- Unknown
I recently listened to a sleep specialist who said that when your alarm goes off in the morning and you push the snooze button you are starting in a deficit before your even put one foot on the ground.
Too many of us think that an extra ten minutes of sleep aren’t a big deal. But in reality, studies show, when your alarm goes off your body turns on. Even though you are still sleepy, and your bed may feel too cozy to get out of, your mind and body are ready to go. It’s a Pavlovian response. Alarm goes off you GET TO move forward.
When you push that snooze button and go back to sleep your body starts another sleep cycle. A sleep cycle can last between 75 minutes and 90 minutes. So, when your alarm goes off and you push the snooze button and then it goes off ten minutes later you are still an hour to an hour and a half short of completing that sleep cycle. This means your mind and your body is still sleeping as you trudge off to the bathroom or to get that cup of coffee.
This “sleep hang over” will stay with you for several hours as your body and mind fight valiantly to catch up and get back on schedule “losing” that extra sleep that it was working on. This is why so many say, “I’m not a morning person.” You are, it’s just your body and mind aren’t because you messed up their schedule. Your day just started and you have started two steps behind your competition.
A second issue that happens when you push snooze is that you begin an internal discussion that will decide how your day will go. All the experts in successful messaging tell us to never negotiate with yourself. When you push that snooze bar, you started this negotiation … poorly.
Let me show you what is happening. This doesn’t start in the morning. The process begins as you’re getting ready for bed when Self #1 sets a wake-up time. Your alarm goes off and Self #2 says, “I need ten more minutes.” You just lost your first argument. What’s next, Self #1 is worried about your blood pressure so it limits you to one cup of coffee. But because Self #2 is groggy from that extra 10-minutes: it “needs”, it pours you a second cup of coffee. You now are 0-2 in your negotiating. Because your day started late you are in a hurry, you end up speeding through a school zone, and you get pulled over. This causes you to be late to work. Because you are late you are behind. Your day is in chaos. And it all started with negotiating with yourself.
It’s an easy plan. Your Self #1 knows what you NEED to do to become successful. It’s when we let Self #2 have an opinion that we have problems. NEVER NEGOTIATE WITH YOURSELF!
What if you are a snoozer, what can you do. Here are five quick remedies to your “Snooze Habit”.
Adjust Your Alarm:
If you are supposed to be up at 7:00 am set your alarm ten minutes ahead. You’re going to snooze for those 10 minutes anyway, just put them into your daily plan. Instead of waking up at 7:00 am, your alarm goes off at 7:10 am. Then when your alarm goes off you have already got that extra 10 minutes.
This doesn’t mean you get to stay up for ten more minutes. Go to bed early enough to get your needed sleep time. Pushing your alarm ahead will just give you ten extra minutes of sleep.
Adjust Your Bedtime:
If you are too tired to get up when your alarm goes off maybe your body needs more sleep. If that’s the case then got to bed earlier. There is nothing better in the world than waking up on your own without the aid of an alarm. If you are being “forced” to get up in the morning you need more sleep. Get off your phone and your iPad, turn off the TV, you can DVR that show and watch it tomorrow. Shut them down and pick up a book.
This is all about preparing you mind to turn off and relax so you get quality sleep. This is what you are really striving for. Trying to fill your sleep need. Quality sleep is not about tossing and turning, trying to solve the worlds problems. It is about slowly shutting your mind down so you can relax and recover from your previous day while you prepare for the next.
Adjust Your Location:
Move your alarm clock so you MUST get out of bed to turn it off. Make it the loudest most annoying sound that forces you get out of bed. When your feet are already on the floor it is easier to keep the momentum moving.
If your bathroom is connected to your bedroom then put the alarm in there. If not put it across the room on the way to the bathroom. Your location is up to you. What noise will force you to put your feet on the floor to get you moving towards your morning routine.
Adjust Your Mindset:
Set your goal when you go to bed that your first successful move will be putting your two feet on the floor. A basketball player can’t score 40-points if they don’t put the first ball through the hoop. Accomplishing that first goal gets you moving towards your second goal. Pretty soon you will have strung together 5 or 10 successful goals achieved. You are on a roll, keep it moving.
Don’t read books before your go to sleep that get you motivated to act. My worst sleep comes when I hear a speaker, or read a book that gets me excited about getting better. I lay in bed and start working on what I read or heard, and how it fits into my life. All I do is dream about how I can use this new information. This type of stimulus needs to happen in the morning when you get up early, or in the afternoon when you need to be inspired, not just as you are trying t to shut down your mind.
What if you wake up before your alarm goes off? Simple, GET UP! Your body and mind are ready to go. What if it’s a half hour early? Great, you will be working on your opportunities before everyone else. There is no downside to this. Wake up. Get up! Move up!!
Adjust Your “Get To” Reasons:
Before you leave work make sure you know you look at your schedule for the next day, so when your alarm goes off you have a game plan. You GET TO wake up. No longer is it a GOT TO thing. When you have reasons to get out of bed you will be more inclined.
Remember when we were kids. It was hard to get up for school or church. But on Saturday morning I was up at the crack of dawn, sitting in front of the TV eating my cereal trying to not wake up my parents.
It was a pure GET TO opportunity. What can you put in your life that makes you want to get up like you did when you were a kid?
If you are the “snoozer” have your significant other give you a reason to get going in the morning. It might be as simple as each person has a breakfast responsibility. It could be a morning walk or some other physical activity that gets you to not push the snooze bar, find it and work as a team to keep you moving forward in your day.
If your partner is the snoozer then understand what makes them want to get moving and use that to motivate them. Understand that if they are moving they aren’t just moving for themselves, in life, two are better than one. Make sure your teammate is moving forward.
If it’s one of your children put their phone on a charger in your room when they go to bed. When they get up, they can use their phone, or iPad, but only if they get up when the alarm goes off. Every minute after the alarm goes off is an hour of lost screen time. Find a way!
Thank You:
Any or all of these five will get you to stop pressing that snooze bar.
When you do get up do me a favor and try this. As you get up and your first foot touches the ground say, “Thank”, and when your second foot touches the floor say, “You”. “Thank You”. For what? You are just putting into words the appreciation that you have for the opportunity to do this thing called life.
We all have an expiration date. We all die. So be thankful for the opportunity you have to do this again. But make sure you do it better than you did yesterday.
It’s all about positive messaging. Start your day with a positive mindset. See the good in life. If you don’t see any good, then make the bad, better. Find something that makes you excited about moving forward with your day. Find your GET TO in your life. It’s easy to see the Got To’s in our life, but when we look close we have some great Get To’s if we open our minds to the possibilities. Once you string a bunch of Get To’s together you will be amazed how great this world can be!
Have an amazing day!
