What do you do when the alarm goes off?
It’s one of those questions that really doesn’t have a right answer. Or does it?
You probably either hit the snooze button or jump right out of bed. There may be other answers like “I don’t need an alarm” but… really? Who are you kidding? I posed the question to our employees and was a little surprised at the answers.
Jump Right Outta Bed
The people who are in the office before everyone else, raring to go, (Scott Mac and Christian) fell, for the most part, under the ‘Jump Right Outta Bed’ category. I guess that makes sense. If I could jump right out of bed when the alarm first goes off, I would probably be in the office earlier. Those individuals seem to embrace the morning. I’m just not that way. I like to get into the office early but in order to do that, I would have to set my alarm a half hour sooner because, well, I’m still going to hit that snooze button. I need some time to ease into the day.
Snooze Button Hitters
Several people, I asked said they intentionally set their alarms up to 30 minutes early just so they can hit the snooze. How many times do they hit the snooze? Up to 4 times was the most popular answer. I refuse to believe that we SBH (Snooze Button Hitters) are any less ambitious than the early risers that hop right out of bed. In fact, some of our top sales reps are habitual SBH. It’s just our way of handling the morning. Of the 43 fellow Unified employees that we surveyed, 30 of them are SBH. So, I decided to turn to google to see if there was a correct answer. My search resulted in a lot more articles in favor of jumping right out of bed as the best approach to the day. One even suggested that the Snooze Button may be “throwing off your circadian cycle”. What? Well, I had to google a definition of that. It sounds way to important not to know its meaning.
What to do about it.
Circadian rhythms are physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in an organism’s environment. They are found in most living things, including animals, plants and many tiny microbes. The study of circadian rhythms is called chronobiology.
Whatever. You know what? I’ll try it. I’m going to jump out of bed at the first sound of my alarm for the next month and see where that gets me. Of course, in order to do that I’m supposed to remove all electronic devices from my bedroom, go to bed earlier and make mornings a scavenger hunt by moving my alarm across the room. And if I do all those things I should be more alert, function better throughout the day, have a lower BMI and a smaller risk of diabetes. Hey, it’s on the internet so it must be true, Bonjour.
What do you think? Are you an SBH or do you jump out of bed eagerly ready to face every morning? Let us know. We’ll let you know the results of our September experiment. And to all you SBH out there, remember, you’re not alone, in fact from our survey you’re in the majority. So do what you have to do to get out of bed in the morning.
