Background

I used to be a snooze button addict. I would never wake up on the first alarm, and would be known to need an hour’s worth of 5 minute sleeping intervals before finally convincing myself that if I do not get up now I will be late for work.

Sometimes I would wake up naturally before the alarm went off feeling fresh and ready for the day, only to fall back asleep, hit the snooze a couple of times and wake up feeling tired again. I used to tell myself that those few precious moments while lying in bed right after having woken up were the most comfortable moments in the day, and that by hitting the snooze often I could enjoy them more frequently.

Clearly, all of that is silly.

Since I have been focusing more on my health and fitness over the last few months, I have been making the intentional effort to get plenty of sleep and keep somewhat of a regular sleep schedule. While researching sleep I became curious to the effects of the snooze button and the general consensus is that it is a terrible invention. Therefore, my friend Jen has so generously offered to challenge me to not use the snooze button for the entire month of December!

Observations

The first couple of days were easy enough, mostly because the challenge was still fresh in my mind, I imagine, and my competitive nature forced me to get up. I did wake up to the alarm feeling tired, but I forced myself to get on with my morning routine and eventually it became easier.

Combine that with plenty of exercise, a healthy diet and a consistent sleep schedule and after 10 days or so it became easier and easier to just get up and go. On a couple of occasions  I found myself waking up a few minutes before the alarm was meant to go off feeling pretty refreshed.

Another interesting side affect is that I found I remembered my dreams… not all mind you, but some. I normally remember nothing of my dreams, not even at the moment I wake up, but over the last month I remembered many of them and that memory lasted long enough for me to be able to write them down or even long enough to tell someone at work. I still remember about 3 of them, which may not seem like much but 3 is also about the number of dreams I remember over the span of my entire life leading up to this challenge, so I consider it statistically significant.

Pitfalls:

1. Alcohol – Going out for a few drinks is always fun, but too much and the quality of your sleep diminishes, as does your eagerness to wake up in the morning. Drink in moderation, and try to keep your consistent sleeping hours if possible.
2. Weekends – I also found that weekends were more challenging than the weekdays for waking up with the alarm. When not working on the weekends that temptation is to go out late and sleep in. While well deserved, I found it more challenging the following morning to get up on the first alarm.

Successful?

Yes, I consider this a successful challenge! I know when I need to get up, I set my alarm for that time and then I wake up and go. It has taken much intentional effort, especially with regards to making a consistent sleep schedule, but I do feel better rested for doing so.

Coming in 2015?

I have lots of goals moving into 2015:

• Learning to dance
• Improving my wardrobe
• Learning Dutch to an intermediate level
• Learning more about photo-editing
• Hiking more
• Travelling more
• Etc…

Jen, go ahead and use this list as fodder for creating more challenges for me : ) And good luck everyone with your own personal challenges, and of course… your New Year’s Resolutions : )