I arrived 30 minutes early at work.
Without doing an effort to be faster, everything went faster, shower, eat, dress, the walk to the train station, it was all easier in some way.
I won 30 minutes of precious time, so I waited for my friend Domingues to have a coffee together and I turned to another friend google: "not snoozing your alarm mning". Yes, made a typo, but it still gave me some results:
- Snoozers are, in fact, losers
- Why hitting the snooze button can actually make you more tired
- Why the snooze button is ruining your sleep
So, what happens according to these articles?
It is devellish to be woken up by an alarm instead of waking up when your body thinks it is time to. Certain doctors and scientists have even called this a cause of become ill more easily. Next to this, it causes what they call sleep inertia.
What happens before you wake up?
About 2 to 1 hour before you actually wake up, your body starts preparing for wake up. The brain sends out signals for the body to produce hormones like cortisol and adrenaline which make your sleep not so deep, lighter. It makes it easier to wake up.
If you are awoken before that process is complete you feel groggy and you are less able to function properly: sleep inertia. That's why I walk into my furniture, have difficulty switching on lights and appliances and make proper decisions early morning.
Snoozing makes waking up more difficult
It seems to make all the sense to snooze your alarm, so you can get yourself together, prepare for getting up, just 5 more minutes of calm... But actually we are making the wake up process more difficult for ourselves. The worst situation being if you fall back into sleep. In those few minutes you won't get that deep, refreshing quality-sleep that you get from a whole night of sleeping. Also you fall into a stage of sleeping which is the worst to be woken up from, by the second alarm. And when we feel it is hard to wake up, we feel like we haven't slept well.
So, even though you have slept well, you will feel like you haven't.
You make your body more confused
The body apparently needs clear signals to adapt itself a bit to this unnatural time of waking up. When you snooze your alarm, one day once, another day 5 times, it does not quite understand anymore what the alarm is for. Therefore it becomes even more unable to adapt the process of preparing for wake up to the unnatural wake up time. This then keeps you feeling groggy every morning or even groggier, possibly for a longer time.
I am enjoying a long weekend now and am strangely a litle excited about being alarmed awake on tuesday again. Let's see if it works again...
If you want, test it, and let me know!
Sleep well!
Sources: snoozers are, in fact, losers by Maria Konnikova
Why hitting the snooze button can actually make you more tired by Sarah Young
Why the snooze button is ruining your sleep by Sophia Breene
Best to set for cycles of rem as well. I agree, first alarm is the time to wake up else set the alarm for later.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Hi! How do you set your alarm for the rem and what is the effect?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Feeling refreshed vs feeling groggy/cranky. It's generally recognized that sleep cycles occur on average every 90 minutes. It is said an effective nap would be less then 25-40 minutes to wake before the first rem period or atleast 90 minutes so you wake after rem. People recommend setting alarms at 90 minute intervals to avoid waking during rem 1 1/2 hrs, 3hrs, 4 1/2hrs, 6 hrs, 7 1/2hrs, 9. People will tell you they sleep for 8 hours and wake up groggy yet 7 1/2 and feel more refreshed. (though tons of people are in a sleep deficit and probably will feel the need to sleep longer eventhough longer sleep after 10 1/2 hours doesn't recoup that debt (if I remember correctly it is because the rem proportion of one's 90 minute sleep cycle lengthens and then after 6 hours begins to shorten where after 10 1/2 hours additional sleep isn't effective. Further compounded by nutritional status and melatonin availability, darkness, light, and blue light.) Strap some electrode tech to your head to find out more specifically when the best times for you to wake are :P.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wow! Thanks! Its a curious idea that breaking your sleep can make you feel more rested. I am a bit afraid to try that in a working week, but next holiday I might! Thanks and have a great week!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
well if you must break your sleep, break it at those times. Otherwise wait till the mind naturally wakes up, scrunch toes, fingers, lift legs and arms, then hop out of bed. Important to wake the body too after the mind
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
True! Thanks for the advice!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit