Day 050: Snoozing vs. Sleeping in Self Care

I woke up with a headache this morning. My alarm and off at five, and I hit snooze. Seven minutes later I hit snooze again. Seven minutes later I hit snooze again. I normally wake up early so that I can go out and get my morning cardio in spend 10 minutes or so cleaning the house And can shower and stop by the church to say hello to Jesus before work. This morning none of that was happening, and I finally made the decision to stop playing with snooze button and give myself the gift of 30 minutes of actual sleep.

I believe it was retired US Navy SEAL, Jocko, Willink, what I first heard talk about the negative affects of hitting the snooze button. I hadn’t thought about it this way before, but Jacko talked about how harmful the snooze button is. He mentioned not only the negative affects, we all think about, things like oversleeping, being late for work, and not getting done what you wanted to get done in the morning, he dug deeper. He said that, by hitting a snooze button, you start off each new day or not doing what you want to do. And he said hitting the snooze button once leads to hitting it twice and three times and often more. These repeated snooze button hits trade the satisfaction of waking up and getting to the day with a few extra minutes of interrupted, semi-groggy laying in bed.

JOCKO is pretty intense, but every time I listen to him I learn something new. What he says is valid, well thought out, and makes sense. Snooze button sleep is not real sleep, it almost always leaves to multiple sneezes, and almost always leads to falling behind and what we promised, we would get done for the day. Looking at it this way, I wonder why anyone would trade the confidence that comes from rising, as you promised yourself, you would be with seven extra minutes of interrupted semi sleep.

On the other hand, is there a days your body really does need the extra sleep. This mornings headache was a firm reminder of that. After the third snooze, it occurred to me that I was probably not going to get my morning run in, get the house straightened, and maybe not even stop by the church. With my head hurting, I needed to take care of myself. I stop making excuses about why I wasn’t getting out of bed. I start telling myself lies perpetuated by the snooze button about how I’d get up in just a few minutes or “next time.” Instead, I reset my alarm to go off in 40 minutes and gifted myself with a deeper, much needed sleep.

There is a temptation among trauma survivors to feel victimized and want to avoid the world and also to feel as if the world is carried on their shoulders and taking time away from commitments would cause the collapse of all that keeps their world turning. Both can lead to hitting the snooze button, the first in avoidance of the world and the second in the struggle to get up and get the job done when you really need to give yourself the gift of time in order to get the job done well and joyfully.

Instead of hitting the snooze button, most trauma survivors, and other people as well would be better off, utilizing the time to read or pray in bed to start the day or to give them selves the gift of time and better quality sleep. By waking up on the first alarm, we keep the promises we make to ourselves about the value we contribute to the world and the good we can learn from it. By resetting the alarm on rare occasions when we legitimately need sleep, we gift ourselves time and teach ourselves that we are valuable and deserve to be cared for, even if we are the only ones caring for ourselves.

There is no shame in waking up early, nor in taking time to rest and sleep when it is truly needed, but there is never any such value in hitting the snooze button.

if you want others to keep their promises to you, you must begin by keeping your promises to yourself. This includes little ones no one will ever know about, including how you start each day. Start your day with intention. Get up when you say you will get up. Sleep when you need to sleep. Stop thinking of the snooze button as a necessary evil, and choose to be more in control of it than it is if you. Know you deserve better than seven minutes of pseudo sleep.

God Bless…

Gratitude Journal- May 31, 2023

Thank You Lord for…

1. The gift of time and extra sleep this morning.
2. Knowing I can pick up my missed cardio later.
3. Making it to work on time.
4. C being home early today.
5. R’s text.
6. Z hanging out on the couch.
7. My students who (almost) always make me smile!
8. Practice and time “off.”
9. ES’s backup and handling things for me – I am soooooo grateful for this!
10. Getting my internet working again.
11. Reading to C.
12. Falling asleep on the couch and his opening  the windows and turning the lights off. He really is such a great kid!