Please Don’t Kill my Vibe: Sleep Inertia
How many of you dread the sound of the alarm when you first wake up in the morning? I know sometimes I do. The thought of having to wake up and go to my job for the next 8–10 hours can feel a little daunting and discouraging sometimes. So what do we all do when this feeling succumbs us?…That’s right we hit the snooze button. Some days it’s more of an immediate reaction cause we really don’t feel like getting up and other days we contemplate getting up and then hit the snooze anyway. Leaving the comfort and warmth of your warm bed when you’re cuddled up under the covers….the outside world surrounding you just doesn’t seem appealing at that point in time. I’m good, I’ll stay right where I’m at….SNOOZE!
Well let me tell you, this is not a great way to start your day. In fact it is a TERRIBLE way to start your day! You’ll be feeling the effects well into the start of your work day. That groggy, tired, sluggish feeling after you hit snooze that you can’t seem to shake? It’s called Sleep Inertia, I read about this in one of the books I was listening to on Audible the other day, a great application to devour books by the way when you’re on the go. I use it everyday. It was a book called The 5-Second Rule written by Mel Robbins. A well known Author and has appeared on CNN and other news rooms.
Well anyway, Sleep Inertia is defined as this… Sleep inertia is a physiological state of impaired cognitive and sensory-motor performance that is present immediately after awakening. It persists during the transition of sleep to wakefulness, where an individual will experience feelings of drowsiness, disorientation and a decline in motor dexterity.
Mel Robbins describes your sleep patterns in her book… your body goes through a series of sleep cycles that can last anywhere from 60–90 minutes long. Have you ever hit the snooze but without setting a subsequent alarm and find out you slept a whole entire hour+, this is why. Once you hit the snooze button your body is receiving the signal to enter into another sleep cycle. If you’re one to keep hitting snooze and set multiple subsequent alarms, then you’re constantly jolting your body awake out of a sleep cycle which is such an unhealthy way to start your day and the best way to kill the vibe of your morning. Researchers say that it will take up to 4 hours of your morning to recover from the effects of Sleep Inertia. The highest levels of cognitive function in your brain happen during those morning hours. Don’t waste that precious time of heightened activity by killing the vibe or your brain will always be playing catch up as well as your body and the tasks you set out for yourself to accomplish each day.
The last sleep cycle before you first wake up, your body is slowly bringing you out of a deep sleep. Mel Robbins describes this action of your body as it’s process of “unthawing” you, preparing yourself to wake up. Hitting the snooze button…not only is it unhealthy it is a conscious rejection to start your day. You don’t want to start your day off with a rejection, start your day on a positive note by catapulting yourself out bed like a skyrocket and get to whatever it is you need to accomplish for that day or looking forward to accomplishing like a hobby or a passion. Take control over your mornings and do something for yourself before you day gets “hijacked” as Mel Robbins puts it, by your job, family, chores, or anything gets your day to start running and the little time you have for you gets away from yourself.
So jump out of bed each morning and avoid hitting that snooze button, make it a habit each day. I promise you it will be life changing.
I’ll be signing off in the same way as Mel Robbins did in her book 5,4,3,2,1 Go
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