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As teenagers, and even more as IMSA students, we\u2019re sleep-deprived. We slog through our morning classes, desperately trying to survive on the four precious hours of sleep we received the night before. In an effort to increase our wakefulness throughout the day, we often resort to consuming exorbitant amounts of caffeine or stealing a quick nap here and there. Still, for many of us, the only reason we\u2019re able to get up in the morning is because of our beloved snooze alarms. Gently easing us out of warm, cozy, stress-free dreamland, the snooze alarm seems like the perfect way to meet our mornings, right? Wrong. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n
Snooze alarms do two wonderful things for us: \u00a0they mess around with our sleep schedules, and cook up complicated chemical concoctions in our brains. As you know, our bodies follow a natural circadian rhythm, moving through the various stages of the sleep cycle and releasing chemicals as our brains deem appropriate.\u00a0 In using the snooze button, we\u2019ll wake up initially (by our first alarm), viciously slam down the snooze button (because we like sleep), fall back asleep (hurrah!), and be rudely awakened 9 minutes later :(.<\/p>\n
During the time that we\u2019re back asleep, our bodies will often move to a deeper stage of sleep than before \u2013 making it even harder to wake up and leaving us groggier and grumpier. What\u2019s more, our brain will release chemicals to help us adjust to various stages of wakefulness: dopamine, to wake us up, and serotonin, to induce sleep. In repeatedly waking up, falling back asleep, and waking up again, our brains fill up with a complicated chemical concoction of dopamine and serotonin. While they\u2019re both known as feel-good chemicals individually, when mixed together, they inhibit our ability to function properly \u2013 leaving us extremely disoriented and tired throughout the day.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a moment and establish the various ways we abuse ourselves by using the snooze alarm. Traditional alarm clocks have the snooze set at 9 minutes. Now, with improved technology (on smartphones, especially), we have the ability to set the time interval between each alarm \u2013 five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, all at the tap and swipe of a finger \u2013 and<\/i> create as many alarms as we\u2019d like. As refreshing as this flexibility may seem (I know that I personally used to have 4 alarms set), it\u2019s even worse than the customary snooze button in terms of wakefulness: not only can we \u201csnooze\u201d for a longer period of time, but we can also do this more often and more efficiently, creating a drastic chemical imbalance.<\/p>\n
In essence, you snooze, you lose.<\/strong> As much as you may love your snooze alarm, I\u2019d like to introduce you to a lifestyle without it \u2013 save yourself from constant tiredness! Separate yourself from your multiple alarms; find the strength to never touch your snooze button ever again. And if, after performing these above tasks with diligence and care, you\u2019re still<\/i> feeling sleepy all the time \u2013 you really just need more sleep.<\/p>\n