This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Are you looking for the best way to break the snooze button addiction? Do you want to improve your morning routine by simply waking up instantly to the sound of your first alarm? In this article you will learn 17 tips that will definitely eliminate your snooze button habit and ultimately lead to a brighter and earlier start to your mornings. Continue reading to find out the best ways to forever break the cycle of snoozing. 

 The Mom Sleep Struggle

Morning routines for moms are a major struggle. From the time when you gave birth to your baby and never sleeping even a wink those three long days in the hospital and up until now, mornings don’t really feel like mornings anymore. Sometimes they just feel like an extension from the night before.

Moms go through a lot of different challenges at night which completely disturbs our sleep patterns. We have to nurse our babies, change the baby’s diapers, sleep train our babies, take care of sick children at night, change the bed sheets after accidents, comfort kids who are scared at night and take care of our children at any moment in time when they need us (even if we are sleeping).

We as moms are on call 24/7 and for this reason, our sleep can be disrupted.

 Morning Routine Bad Habits

We can get in a bad habit of getting used to the snooze button, can’t we? I sure have. Especially since being home with my young children with no obligation to be up early to go anywhere. The only obligation I have most days is gymnastics class at 11 am and kindergarten drop off at 12 pm. I have no reason to wake up early at the crack of dawn to the sound of an alarm.

But when I’m motivated to wake up early, let’s say to workout or get an early shower before the kids wake up, I sometimes tend to hit the snooze button. And then I might hit it again and again, over and over again.

Does this sound like you? You have all intentions on waking up early to be productive in some way but the bed is just oh so comfortable with the temptation to snooze away! Next thing you know, 24 minutes go by and you hit the snooze button 3 times.

Let’s break this habit right now. I have 17 amazing tips that will definitely help you to break this habit of snoozing every morning.

But first, I want you to try to figure out why waking up to the first sound of your alarm is so important to you.

Why Do You Want To Wake Up Early?

There must be some reason why you came to this article. You want to figure out a way to stop hitting that snooze button, right?

What’s the reason you want to make a change? Why now? Let’s do a little self-evaluation.

I’m going to list out some questions for you to answer.

Get a small piece of paper, nothing fancy (or if you want to be fancy, you can take out your beautiful bullet journal you worked so hard on). Or you can just print my copy I provided in this article (see below).

Answer these next 6 questions to help you better understand the importance of this morning routine life altering change!

Related: 7 Self-Care Steps For The Best Morning Routine

You might have similar answers to the following 6 questions, but go ahead and try your best to answer them:

1. What is your goal?

2. What is your motivation?

3. What is the reason why you want to wake up earlier?

4. What do you want to accomplish in the mornings?

5. How will the rest of your day be affected in a positive way if you wake up at this particular time?

6. How much more can you get done on your list and feel more accomplished by the end of the day?

Now that you have a better understanding of your desires, take that piece of paper with your answers on it and keep it right on top of your alarm clock every night.

If your clock is your phone, put the paper over top of your phone so when you wake up in the morning you literally have to touch the paper first before touching your snooze button….but wait, we AREN’T going to touch the snooze button any more, are we? NOPE! We are going to make a change starting now!

17 Tips To Stop The Snooze Button Addiction

1. Go To Bed Earlier

Pick a time of night that you think is reasonable for you to go to bed.  This time should be a bit earlier than you normally do so you can get the adequate rest your body needs.

2. Go To Bed At The Same Time Every Night

Whatever time you picked to be your new bedtime, stick to it and let’s reset your natural sleep cycle and get a rhythm going.  Set a reminder every night if you have to alert yourself about your new bedtime. Try for the next 15-30 days to be consistent with this bedtime, and your body will adjust naturally.

Related: 7 Tips & Tricks To Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle

3. Get A Different Alarm Clock

Sonic Alert Sonic Boom Loud Vibrating Alarm Clock 

There are many alarm clocks out there that you can find at the store or on Amazon that can help you to wake up faster.  There is actually an alarm clock called the “Sonic Boom” that will alarm with a vibration via the bed shaker and produces an extra loud sound for those heavy sleepers. Sounds like a winner to me!

If you are using your Iphone, you will want to change the alarm sound to something that is more of an alerting sound rather than a soothing sound. 

4. Use An Alarm Clock With Light

Alarm clocks with light are a great way to help stimulate you to wake up. Naturally our bodies respond to light at morning time – this gives us the motivation to get up and start our day.  Philips created this innovative light therapy lamp doubled as an alarm clock which has been clinically proven to help you wake up feeling more refreshed. Its features include a natural light radiance which generates the feeling of you experiencing a natural sunrise in your own room. 

5. Use An Alarm Clock or App That Tracks Your Sleep

Your sleep is based off of cycles. So why not use an alarm clock that tracks your sleep, tracks your cycles and helps determine the best time for your body to wake up?

This interesting fact was a real eye opener for me when I read it…no pun intended 😉

If you wake up during REM sleep and then hit the snooze button, you may return to deep sleep mode. Waking from deep sleep mode before moving through a lighter stage of sleep shocks our bodies. This is known as sleep inertia.[19] Hitting the snooze button doubles the impact, causing feelings of grogginess later in the day.[20]

This app called Sleep Cycle helps to analyze your sleep pattern. It’s known as a “Smart” alarm clock because of its tracking abilities and its analysis capabilities which in turn will help you to wake up more easily.  Absolutely revolutionary!

6. Set The Timer On Your Coffee Machine

Keurig K575 Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker 

Waking up to the smell of sizzling bacon or the scent of freshly brewed coffee is a win! Too bad they don’t make Automatic Bacon Makers…but they do make Programmable Coffee Makers! If you have one, set it up to the time you want to wake up to help stimulate your senses first thing in the morning. You are more likely to get out of the bed if you wake up to the smell of coffee or other arousing scents. 

7. Allow Morning Light To Come In Through Your Bedroom Window

MySmartBlinds Automation Kit Bundle

We already talked about how light can play a big roll in helping you to wake up earlier, but how cool does this sound? Your blinds can automatically be programmed to open at the exact moment you want to wake up. (Or you could sleep with your blinds open, but who really wants to do that?) 

The MySmartBlinds remembers all your preferences and schedules so that your blinds will operate exactly when you want it to.  It also is solar powered and comes with a seamless attachment solar panel. 

8. Place Alarm Clock At A Distance From Your Bed

By putting your alarm clock farther away from your bed, you are forced to get up and turn off that obnoxious sound. 

This is by far the simplest and cheapest way to definitely stop the snooze button addiction. 

The key to success, however, is not going back to bed. Just be sure to get right into your morning routine the moment you turn off your alarm. 

Head straight for your workout spot, take a shower or get your hot cup of coffee, but whatever you do, don’t walk back in the direction of your bed!

9. Set The Alarm For the Same Time Every Day

Getting on a routine is really the best way to help your body to get used to waking up at a certain hour. 

You need to train your body to know what time you expect it to actually wake up. 

If some days you need to wake up at 6am and other days you don’t need to wake up until 7am, just continually set your alarm for 6 am throughout the week and retrain your sleep rhythm to be more consistent.

This will help you to be less groggy.

You might even get to the point where your body wakes up naturally without an alarm clock! Wouldn’t that be amazing? A complete 180!

10. Sit Up-Stand Up!

Get the blood flowing right away and sit up the moment your alarm sounds, then immediately stand up!

You will be immediately given a jolt of energy just by doing this simple thing.

Don’t let yourself fall back into the comfort of your bed, but take a moment while standing and breathe. Breathe and open your eyes. 

You have to be determined every morning and force yourself into doing this new habit.

Habits take practice, so practice waking up every morning with a quick “sit up-stand up” routine. 

11. Avoid Certain Habits That Have A Negative Effect On Your Sleep

Speaking of habits, now that you have implemented some really amazing good habits, let’s get rid of the bad ones as well.

There are some habits that have negative effects on your quality of sleep.

Avoid watching TV right before bed.

Turn off your computer and your phone and put them away before you go to sleep.

Stop drinking caffeinated and other stimulating drinks by a certain time of night. 

Avoid eating high protein meals late at night. 

12. Have A Wake-Up Call Accountability Partner

Everyone loves the wake-up call service at hotels. Why not implement the same system at home? 

Find someone who can be your accountability partner and ask her to call you every morning at a certain time. 

Or you could even ask your spouse to double check to see if you are up and out of bed by a certain time every morning. If you are still snoozing, ask him to pull you out of bed if he has to!

13. Drink Cold Water In A Yeti

Yeti Rambler Stainless Steel Tumbler

Get your Yeti and fill it with ice and water the night before. Set it by your bedside so it’s ready to go first thing in the morning. Once you wake up, take a nice big gulp of that ice cold water. It will give you a refreshing jolt to start your day.

14. Reward Chart!

Getting a reward chart of some kind or a calendar will help you visualize your success as you accomplish your goals. 

Maybe you set a goal to be completely done with the snooze button by the end of the month, write it down in your calendar.

You can set up a reward for yourself after 30 days of successfully not hitting the snooze button.

Cross off each day in the calendar. Once you get to your goal, give yourself the reward you so deserve. 

You can also create a customizable chart that is more specific to your goals. 

15. Get Excited

There is no point in trying to make a change in your habits if you are not excited to do so. You are fighting a losing battle otherwise.

Change you morning mindset and get your excited face on!

Get pumped to start the day. Be energized to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish with your extra time. The grogginess stops now and the energizer bunny is ready to take over!

16. No Excuses

Excuses are a thing of the past. 

“I was up too late.”

“My kids woke me up last night.”

“What’s the rush? I have a few more minutes to spare.”

Whatever the excuse is, stop them all right now. The only thing that you should be thinking of is getting up and starting your day within the sound of the first alarm.

The snooze button no longer exists in your household.

There will be difficult nights and long days and special events, but don’t let those obstacles stand in your way. 

17. Be Determined 

Yes! You’ve Got This!

Be determined. Get your head in the game and stop the addiction. No longer will that snooze button take over your waking hours.

You have a goal, a goal to wake up on time at the right time every day. Let’s get this done.

Take that paper I told you to write down your goals on. Place that paper over your phone every night before going to bed. If in the end you are really struggling, hopefully this one paper, with your own words and hand writing can look you in the eye every morning as you attempt to hit the snooze button. 

Let this paper be a reminder to you to avoid hitting snooze once and for all. 

I would love to hear from you. Comment below and let me know how these tips have helped you. What are your morning goals? What do you hope to accomplish by waking up at the sound of your first alarm?

I think you will really enjoy reading my next post, 7 Self-Care Steps For the Best Morning Routine, where you will learn how you can make your mornings more productive but also allow time to nourish your mind and body.

Keep Smiling,

Dr. Jena Bradley, DPT

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

**Always be approved by a doctor before starting a new exercise routine. 

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-Jena

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