Back in December 2022, I set a New Year’s goal for myself to wake up at 6:00 AM on mornings I have work (Mondays - Fridays) and 7:30 AM on non-working days (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays). Fast forward six months later, and I’m still struggling to roll out of bed super early in the mornings. 

I definitely understand the importance of waking up early and not stressing or rushing and how that can start the day off on a spectacular foot. In fact, I will go to sleep at night with hopes of getting up at my first alarm all to snooze it until I’m almost late. 

Here’s my current sleep schedule: 

• Go to bed around 11:30 PM. 

• First alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. I turn this one off and close my eyes without hesitation. 

• Second alarm goes off at 6:15 AM. I snooze this one for about 9 minutes.

• The alarm goes off again at about 6:24 AM. If it’s a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday morning, I’ll start rubbing Krissy’s back so he knows it’s almost time for him to get up. If it’s a Monday or Friday, I snooze it again. 

• At this point, the alarm goes off for a final time at about 6:33 AM. I turn it off, but usually I lay in the bed until 6:41 AM and then I’ll finally get up to get dressed.

I don’t remember having these struggles before the past year to year and a half. I think previously I only had one alarm set and there was no option to snooze it. I popped up as soon as the alarm went off and there was no doubt that I was up for the day. This was super helpful in college when I wanted to take some afternoon naps too. I could set my alarm and rest easy knowing that I wouldn’t oversleep. 

I have never in my life slept through an alarm, thankfully. Usually, I’m a pretty light sleeper and the slightest sounds can wake me up. That works in my favor if I accidentally doze off after turning an alarm off, but works against me if there’s ever a bump in the night. I have to be exhausted to fall asleep with lots of noise around me. 

Somewhere along the way, my alarms ended up being set incorrectly and I think that’s the real reason why I’ve gotten reliant on hitting the snooze button. There’s also no real consequence to sleeping in since I end up making it to work on time anyways. The biggest issue is that I’m constantly rushing during the mornings to the point where if anything abnormal crops up, it might throw my entire timing off. 

I usually drink my coffee in the car and eat my breakfast at my desk instead of enjoying them from the comfort of my home. If I would make time to consume just those two items, it would significantly lighten my load of things I carry on a daily basis. Most days, I don’t have an appetite for food until about 9:30 AM or 10 AM so I’ll try to wait until then to get the benefits of intermittent fasting. 

Waking up earlier will give me more time to get things done without feeling rushed, especially on the weekends. Instead of eating breakfast in the late morning, I would have enough time to finish cooking rather early. The routine would also help when the dogs need to run out in the wee early hours of the morning before they ultimately go back to sleep. 

It’s hard breaking the enticing lure of getting more sleep, but just like I broke the habit of taking naps every afternoon, there will come a day where I will fully embrace a 5:30 AM or 6:00 AM wake up call. 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie