It is a known fact that lawyers burn the candle at both ends. When working long hours, the snooze alarm can become a best friend. But it causes more harm than one would think.
Let’s picture this. You are in a deep sleep, and the alarm goes off. You are jolted awake! You groggily hit the snooze. You go back to sleep; you start a new sleep cycle. Ten minutes later, your alarm goes off again; you jolt yourself out of another sleep cycle. You doze off, and you begin a new sleep cycle. Every time you hit the snooze and go back to sleep, you start a new sleep cycle.
Howard Loves To Hit The Snooze
Howard, a partner who had practiced for 27 years, had lived most of his life hitting his snooze. He suffered on and off with insomnia. In the mornings, his depression kicked in, and it was hard for him to get going. Much to the dismay of his wife, he kept hitting the snooze. She would huff out of the room to leave him to his own devices.
She was relieved when we began to work together. Howard’s inability to get going in the morning wreaked havoc in his career and marriage.
Howard confided in me, “Pamela, things go so much better when I get up early. I get more accomplished, and I feel better about myself when I get up and arrive at my office early. But, when that alarm goes off, I automatically hit my snooze alarm at least two or three times.”
Howard did not realize that hitting his snooze alarm increased his grogginess. He felt exhausted, and as a result, he was less productive.
Let me explain what was happening to Howard’s body. When we go to bed, all of us experience 90–110-minute sleep cycles as we sleep throughout the night.
According to the American Association for Sleep Medicine (AASM) classification, there are five stages of sleep:
· Stage W: Wakefulness
· Stage N1: Relaxed Wakefulness
· Stage N2: Light Sleep
· Stage N3: Deep Sleep, or Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS)
· Stage R: REM Sleep: Dreaming
During the REM Sleep part of the night, our body is paralyzed. Our brain plays a
remix of events and situations that were and could be (called dreams). Hitting the snooze button confuses your body and your brain. Once the alarm jolts you awake, you have ended a sleep cycle. When you hit the snooze, you’re now telling your brain that it’s time to go back to sleep and begin a new 90-minute sleep cycle. Your body becomes more disoriented and confused each time you hit the snooze.
How many of us wake up to the blaring alarm? Still half-asleep, you hit the snooze automatically. You reason ten more minutes of shut-eye is what you need.
The alarm jolts us out of REM sleep. We hit the snooze. We go back to sleep.
We have signaled our brain to release hormones that message the brain that it is time to begin a new deep sleep cycle. You go back to sleep, begin a new sleep cycle but, instead of 90 minutes, it’s only ten minutes. The alarm goes off again; you interrupt another sleep cycle. Every time you hit the snooze, you interrupt one sleep cycle and begin a new one.
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You have caused much damage. You feel more exhausted. The fatigue will last long after you have finally dragged yourself out of bed. When you hit the snooze, you are not doing yourself a favor. You have done your body, your brain, and your day ahead of you a disservice. You might have messed up your day.
“The beginning of a sleep cycle is not a good time to be jolted awake by your alarm again,” according to the experts at the Sleep Clinic Services.
Even if you had a great night’s sleep, hitting the snooze will leave you caught amid a sleep cycle. If you didn’t get much sleep, hitting your snooze will make you feel worse. If you want ten minutes extra sleep, set the alarm 10 minutes later.
Howard didn’t realize that he kept setting himself up for “Sleep Inertia.” Sleep inertia is the groggy feeling after you’ve slept for hours. He never felt rested. Instead, Howard ended up feeling exhausted, sluggish, and sleepy.
Too many lawyers are like Howard. They drag themselves into the office suffering from “sleep inertia,” feeling groggy and grumpy. They load up with coffee, dragging around the office half-asleep until around lunchtime.
Forcing yourself to wake up without the snooze alarm will energize your law practice. You will feel alert and more productive and advance your law practice to the next level. ◆
