Hitting the Snooze Will Make You Lose

Are you a snooze button junkie?

Do you lo-o-o-ong for more sleep?

Ooo, how we love those glorious 9 minutes of extra sleep the iPhone gives us when we snooze.

And let's be honest. Who only hits it once?

Snoozes buttons are like Pringles. Once you pop the fun don't stop.

The problem is hitting the snooze will make us lose A LOT more than sleep.

I love my mornings. 

I have realized being rushed is not my thing. 

Exercise, devotion, breakfast with Meghan, and coffee on the couch are my preferred morning routine. 

If it was 1950 I would throw in the newspaper for good measure, but we stopped getting the paper when our coupon drawer was overflowing with coupons 6 months past their expiration date.

The problem is when I snooze that all gets messed up. It's impossible to snooze the rest of the day.

"Uh, hello work? Yea..I decided to snooze this morning so I am going to come in about 9 minutes late so I can keep my morning routine exactly the same. Would you mind pushing back all my meetings by 9 minutes today too? Thanks!"

Good luck with that call.

The "musts" are never sacrificed for sleep. Showering, teeth brushing, and breakfast are the "musts". It is always the secondary staples that are sacrificed.

Exercise, Devotion, Spending time with the family.

AND...extra time is never found later in the day. As the day progresses we lose more time. 

Emergencies and urgencies pop up out of nowhere. We spend the rest of the day playing Whack-A-Mole trying keep up and not let anything sneak by unseen.

When we snooze we lose. 

We lose the opportunity to focus on what we WANT to do. We are forced to focus on what we MUST do to make it through.

Habits may take 23 days to form, but I am pretty sure snoozing is the exception. By day 2 it is pretty well set in stone. 

If we keep up our new found habit, if we sacrifice for sleep long enough, we will find the benefits of those secondary staples slip away.

Our ambition to be active is diminished. We gain weight or lose muscle. The renewing power of prayer and devotion are gone. The family begins to feel distant.

That is a lot to lose for a 9 minute snooze.

So skip the snooze. Decide when to begin your day and do it. 

Give yourself the time to focus on what you WANT to do to thrive instead of just survive.