Addicted to the snooze button?

Since our early childhood we are taught ‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’. It’s also supposed to be the way to our finest life and somewhere we all want to live it. In this pursuit one habit which we all want to inculcate is the habit of getting up early. But this desire gets countered every day by one addiction, perhaps the biggest that has inflicted human race today – love for the snooze button.

The struggle happens every day when we fight and argue with our own foggy brain under the warmth of our blanket and try to present ourselves the gift of that extra ten minutes by hitting the snooze button. Invariably ten minutes do stretch and we find lifting ourselves from the bed dejected having lost the battle once more.

Let me try to list down some very simple ways to win the battle of the bed:

Be motivated to get up early: The force of a deep desire of getting up early is the best way to bring mind over mattress. If we are really motivated to wake up at a certain time, we will surmount all excuses of going back to sleep in the morning. If we really value the benefits of getting up early, we will make it happen come what may.

Getting up at the same time everyday: Whatever our pattern or requirement of sleep, it’s imperative for us first to set a fixed awakening time. It may be a bit difficult initially to hone in on the right range of bedtime for us. There may be huge oscillations staying awake too late or going to bed early some night but eventually a time will set in when we will know what time is best suited for us to go to bed. We will automatically go to sleep at a time every day allowing enough sleep to wake up refreshed in the morning.

Early dinner: An early dinner before 8 PM everyday gives you ample time to digest your food. It eventually prepares you for a more deep and sweet sleep.

Don’t watch television just before sleep: The biggest energy sapper in most lives today is the process of watching television. It takes a lot of positive energy out of us, makes us lounge till late night and gives us insomnia. We should avoid watching television just before sleep and replace it with other habits like reading books, playing or reciting rhymes to our kids. Let’s try and enter sleep with sweet thoughts which will help us eventually to get up early and refreshed.

Snooze button is kept out of reach: We need to keep the alarm clock away from the bed and not right next to us. It will force us to get up from bed and not hit the snooze button lying in the bed. Once you are up, in all probability you will stay up. The best way is to stretch your body completely for ten seconds and force yourself out of the mattress.
Let’s now win the battle and join the esteemed “5 o’ Clock Club” to success.

In this journey to success, be guided by those words of Sam Veda: ‘A person, who rises early in the morning, feels energetic and remains active throughout the day. The mind remains fresh for the entire day. Therefore we should make it a habit to get up early in the morning.’

Read another point of view here - Forcing yourself to get up early in the morning is pointless!

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Kaushik is a Business Training and Development professional working with a well known MNC bank in India. His interests are reading, travelling, trekking, spirituality, photography, cultural and social activism. Reach him at