5 Tips to not put off your Alarm Clock anymore

The desire to enjoy the last moments under the sheets is a common feeling for many people, especially when it comes to waking up early. However, constantly putting off the alarm clock can be harmful. Find out why. 

WHY SHOULD YOU NOT STOP THE ALARM CLOCK?

“Only 5 more minutes…”. Is this your thought whenever your alarm clock goes off? Postponing it is a habit you should avoid. 

While we sleep, our body reduces the production of melatonin and increases the production of cortisol - two hormones responsible for regulating our sleep.

When we delay waking up, the time we sleep between each interval of a new awakening is not enough to be considered quality sleep. In fact, we're just making waking up even more difficult and disrupting our biological clock! You can find out more in our Blog Article - Sleep Cycles: How They Work.

Postponing the alarm can impair your performance throughout the day, particularly in decision-making and memory. In addition, you will be transmitting (wrong) information to your body, indicating that it should start a new cycle, leading it to enter a state of sleep inertia.

Sleep Inertia

Before we explain the concept itself, and for you to understand it more easily, we have three questions for you:

• How many times have you felt that your sleep was not restorative enough and you found yourself waking up tired? 
• When you wake up, do you need a few minutes to "recompose" and connect with the world? 
• Do you usually wake up feeling bad and irritated, even after you've slept the recommended hours of sleep? 

If your answers were affirmative, you “feel in your skin” the state of inertia of sleep. You've certainly been considered as "the morning grumpy", but in theory, it's not quite like that! Like a car engine, the brain first needs to “warm up” before starting, right?

Simply put, sleep inertia is the transition state between sleep and consciousness, and is characterized by reduction of our cognitive capacity and alertness. In some cases, it lasts approximately fifteen minutes, and in others an hour or more. 

How does it manifest?

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Rafael Pelayo, a sleep specialist at the Stanford University Sleep Medicine Center (California), says that "the body needs time to prepare to wake up. When we go back to sleep, the body thinks: 'False alarm! need to do nothing' and settles back into sleep. When the alarm clock goes off for the second time, the body and brain are taken by surprise, resulting in a feeling of confusion called sleep inertia”. 

Snooze the alarm by repeatedly activating the alarm function snooze, is one of most frequent causes of sleep inertia. By doing so, you will be fragmenting your sleep and impairing its quality, and you will wake up much more tired.

Sleep inertia can also manifest itself when we wake up from a nap. Nonetheless, 20 minutes is the ideal time for a nap that will leave you rested, without running the risk of going through the inertia of sleep and waking up tired.

The millions of people who sleep the "siesta" every day - and it's not just the Spaniards! - say they feel more relaxed and rested when doing so.

 

THE 5 INFALLIBLE TIPS TO STOP PUTTING YOUR ALARM CLOCK AGAIN

We know perfectly well that resisting the comfort of our bed is particularly difficult, especially if you sleep in a mattress colmol...

To help you, we've put together some strategies (which really work!) to put into practice on the mornings when the alarm goes off. 

 

 

 

Whether it's to work, do important tasks or stay focused from a trip to the gym, any reason is enough to make you jump out of bed. The secret is to think if you prefer to start the day under stress, or if it is preferable to do everything calmly, with the certainty that you have enough time to do so. The answer seems obvious to us, right?

By delaying the alarm clock, in addition to waking up tired and with less energy, you will only be “postponing the unavoidable”!

 

 

 

This is perhaps the most foolproof tip of all! The night before, before going to sleep, set the alarm clock away from you, off the nightstand or other location near your bed. 

This way, when it's time for the alarm to ring, you'll have to get up to turn it off. When you find yourself, you're on your feet, and ready to start your day… without laziness!

Extra tip: If your alarm clock is your cell phone and, for some reason, you need to have it close to you, try an alarm clock for pc. The night before, put the computer away from you. You'll see it works just the same!

 

 

 

We all know that there are certain alarm clock sounds that, instead of making us wake up calmly and serenely, have the opposite effect on us.

So that your waking up is not done in an abrupt and stressful way, set the melody of your alarm clock to a sound capable of waking you up peacefully, so that you gradually “recover your senses”. 

Very loud, sudden sounds with aggressive variations should always be avoided!

Extra tip: Try setting your alarm clock to calm music that gives you an immediate feeling of peace. You will see that you will wake up much better, and far from the inertia of sleep!

 

 

 

For many people, the need to put off the alarm clock is due to the fact that they sleep poorly and for a short time. As for sleep, the quality and the the amount must “go hand in hand”! 

According to the time you have to wake up, schedule the time to go to sleep ensuring that your sleep is at least seven hours.

Also, it is very important that your allies are the best! One cushion and a mattress that allow you to have a restful and quality rest, will make your nights much more peaceful.

 

Extra tip: If you have trouble falling asleep and/or wake up in the middle/during night, there are some practices that can help you. Try Meditate before sleep, do some relaxation Exercises, or even listening to a Music able to reassure you. We are sure you will fall asleep more easily!

 

 

 

Using a smart alarm clock can also be an excellent strategy in the “fighting of snooze”. 

A smart alarm clock is capable of monitor your sleep cycle, and wake up only when you are going through your lightest phase. Amazing, isn't it?! This way you avoid going through sleep inertia and when you wake up you will feel much fresher and more refreshed. 

There's a lot applications of smart alarm clocks available for smartphone. One of the potentialities that you can find in some of these alarm clocks is the “light” mode, which simulates the sunrise and gradually increases the brightness of the screen, so that you can enjoy a more peaceful awakening.

 

You have already realized that putting off the alarm is not the solution to waking up less tired. If you start to adopt some of these strategies, you will see that you will be more productive during the day and your mornings will be livelier and more active!

So remember: tomorrow, when your alarm goes off, you don't need “another 5 minutes”!