Stop Hitting the Snooze Button (3 Tips You Probably Haven’t Tried)

If you’re struggling with snoozing your alarm nonstop and nothing you try seems to stick, keep reading — I’m going to give you three tips on how to stop snoozing your alarm. These are three tips you probably haven’t heard before.

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Hi, my name is Jimena Ramirez and I’m a behavior change coach and the director of coaching and program strategy at Body Brain Alliance.

Not snoozing your alarm or having a peaceful morning are actually some of the behaviors we work on the most with our coaching clients. And I understand it’s not just the behavior of snoozing your alarm that feels annoying — it’s what comes after. The rushed morning, the things you forget, the feeling that you don’t have it together before your day has even started.

Common Strategies That Don’t Work

Maybe you’ve used tricks before — like putting your phone away before bed, using apps to prevent snoozing, or asking your partner to not let you go back to bed. And yet you’re still engaging in this behavior.

So here are three tips to start working on this that you probably haven’t tried yet.

Tip #1: Focus on Your Bedtime Routine

I know you’re here for the morning tips. However, getting a solid seven hours of sleep is what we’re aiming for to help prevent snoozing. If there is a circumstance preventing you from getting that much sleep — a baby, a toddler, or otherwise — that’s okay. We’re talking about getting as many hours as possible and controlling what is within your control.

A little disclaimer: consistently going to bed late because you procrastinated on pending work, feeling like you’re not sleepy enough to go to bed, or staying up streaming on your phone are not entirely out of your control. If you’re finding yourself in those situations, this might require working on other skills around self-regulation or time management.

Tip #2: Identify What You Can Look Forward To

What is good about tomorrow? What can you look forward to? Can you go to bed painting a vivid picture of things you can look forward to the next day? And can you start a really enjoyable habit or transition out of bed in the morning?

This might entail first identifying what is not pleasant about getting out of bed — so that you can actually do something about it. Maybe if it’s wintertime and it’s really cozy in your bed, creating an environment that is actually cozier to move towards will help. Maybe that’s moving to the couch and covering yourself with a blanket and starting your morning slowly — or making sure coffee is waiting for you as soon as you wake up.

To give you an idea, here are some things I personally look forward to in the morning: breakfast (it’s my favorite meal and I’ve had the same thing for breakfast for years — I really enjoy it), a quiet morning with time for myself, and greeting my dogs.

Tip #3: Work on Acceptance and Self-Talk

We have established that we are human beings who need a certain number of hours of sleep to function properly. Now, provided you’ve had that much sleep and you’re actually in a place where you can function and feel good throughout your day…

What are your expectations when you’re waking up? Are you expecting to feel super energized, not sleepy at all? Are you telling yourself that if you’re not fully ready and awake to take on the day, then you should go back to bed?

This is where I want to encourage you to lead with acceptance. If your brain is thinking that feeling tired when you open your eyes means you should go back to bed, it’s probably anticipating that and making decisions from that place.

This is your chance to start changing that narrative. You could tell yourself: “It’s okay to feel tired. I’m going to give myself a few moments to wake up.” Try to think of it as a warmup.

Conclusion

Remember that snoozing is a cognitive habit that you have developed — a way in which your brain is making a decision about waking up based on the condition of feeling sleepy. And as such, you can start changing that, realizing that we can feel sleepy and still wake up.

We can choose to not snooze, get out of bed, and test the waters before making further decisions.

If you have any comments, thoughts, or experiences you’d like to share related to this topic, drop them in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!

Thank you for reading, see you in the next one!