by Deborah C. Washington

Created on: July 17, 2010

You snooze, you lose. No, not in this case—the snooze alarm is the most wonderful invention for those who cannot naturally wake up at the same time every day or for those who cannot jump up at the first sound of the alarm to drag themselves off to work or school. The snooze alarm definitely was created for the “not-a-morning-person”. Everyone is not created the same and the snooze alarm is not just a guilty pleasure any more, but for those who know how to use it efficiently, it is an effective tool to start the day.

To snooze or not to snooze, that is the question. If you have a hard time getting out of bed on rainy days or Mondays or every day, the snooze alarm can ease you out of bed. The key is to set it at least fifteen minutes before you really need to get up. Some people need longer. It’s best not to make it too early or you will deprive yourself of sleep from the constant buzzing or radio interruptions (depending on your particular alarm). It is not really a way to get more sleep, but it is a way to trick yourself into thinking you had a few more minutes or to ease yourself awake instead of answering to a mean old one time buzzer/radio demanding that you immediately get out of bed or at least sit up lest you close your eyes again and fall back to sleep. You will need to know how many times you can afford to hit the snooze button before making it necessary to jump out of bed and scramble off—no time for scrambling eggs or any breakfast, in that case, but grab a coffee, because you’re going to need it. Unfortunately, although sometimes we would like it, the snooze button cannot put off the inevitable. You must get up.

People who use the snooze alarm are generally not the type to jump start the day singing. If they are forced to jump out of bed on the first alarm, watch out world!  However, given the chance to slowly greet the new day, they may be singing before they go out the door. Perhaps, snooze alarm hitters are multi-taskers. They are working on waking up while they are sleeping. If you start your morning self-indulgently, gently easing yourself into a new day by hitting the snooze alarm, you have taken the first step to starting the day off on the right foot and all who cross your path will be thankful for it. The world is a better place because of snooze alarms and those who choose to use them correctly. Go ahead, hit the button. You deserve it and the world will thank you.

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