The Philosophy of the Snooze Button

Don't get me wrong. I love sleep. Who doesn't? There's nothing like a good night's rest. It is refreshing and rejuvenating. It feels good. And yet, as much as I love sleeping, I hate wasting time. Time is all I've got. I am conscious of every waking hour that slips away. The later I get up, therefore, the more of my life I am giving away. I don't want to spend my entire life unconscious. And yet, every morning when my alarm goes off, my arch-enemy is sitting there right beside me, telling me I should just go back to sleep. "You don't need to get up, Doug. Is it really that important? Come on, just a few more minutes." Who is this enemy, whispering these seductive words in my ear: it is none other than the snooze button.

Again, I want to express how much I enjoy sleeping. It is truly quite wonderful. Yet, I believe that the purose of life isn't to get better sleep. The purpose of sleep is to live a fuller life. The snooze button may seem like your friend but it is really the great tempter luring you into oblvion. The snooze button is holding you back. Here are a few reasons why:

1. You are losing time. This is obvious. It's exactly what I've been talking about. Every time I hit the snooze button, 9 minutes is gone from my life. GONE! 9 minutes doesn't seem that long but, if I really think about it, the greatest experiences of my life have probably occured within a span of 9 minutes. It's awfully tempting to justify sleeping another 9 minutes but 9 quickly turns to 18, which turns to 27, which turns to 36, which turns to 45. When it's all said and done, will you ever regret not having slept in an extra 27 minutes? No, probably not. You will more likely regret not having prepared for that presentation or not having read the newspaper or not having stopped for breakfast with a friend. Simply put, life is too short for the snooze button.




2. You are hurting your self-cofidence. Really? Am I taking this a little too far? I don't think so. Think about it. Every time you set your alarm for a certain time and you don't get up at that time, you are going back on a commitment you've made to yourself. 'I will get up this early. I will do this, that, and the other,' you tell yourself. But, instead, you sleep in. You are lying to yourself. Sooner or later, this behavior will start to take its toll psychologically. You will begin questions yourself and the commitments you make in other aspects of your life. You'll doubt your ability to follow through on your promises. You will lose faith in yourself...and all for another 9 minutes of sleep.




3. You are expressing how you feel about life. When you hit snooze, you are telling yourself that sleep is more important to you than life. If you really love your life, your sleep will be an inconvenience to you. You will jump out the sound of your alarm, because it will mean the start of another glorious day. Can you imagine living with such passion that you can't wait to get up in the morning? Maybe it seems a little far-fetched. But doesn't it sound better than dreading your day? Regardless of how you feel about your work or the people you will encounter throughout the day, hitting snoozes reinforces that life is a pain rather than a pleasure.

You snooze, you lose. Any way you slice it, the snooze button is bad for you. My advice? Get rid of it. Take a knife and pop it off. Put a few layers of duct tape over it. Buy an alarm clock without a snooze button (do they even make them?) Do whatever it takes to rid yourself of this relentless evil. Life is just too important to tolerate it.