It's that crazy time of year again. You know, the time of year when everything is happening and everyone is busy. We all have things coming to an end; finals, graduations, weddings, sports seasons, and other school year obligations. There's so much excitement happening around us, but one thing we all have in common is that we are TIRED. With the extra obligations comes a time commitment that often takes away from any real time scheduled for sleep. We have to prioritize the other things in our lives and we justify it by telling ourselves "it's almost over", it's probably why somebody at some point in history started saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead", because the harsh reality is that life doesn't stop so that you can get your Zzzz's.

This is the time of year I always find myself feeling like I am running a marathon. I am so over scheduled and my to-do list often seems impossible. I am tired and crabby and just not the best version of myself. It's also the time of year when I would usually take advantage of an extra 10 or 20 minutes of sleep courtesy of the snooze button. I say usually because several months ago I read an article about The Snooze Button that left me quite curious. I started doing my own research and then decided to put some of my findings to practice. Sure enough, I learned a lot about my body, my sleeping patterns, and just how counterproductive that trusty snooze button can be.

Here are 5 Reasons Why I Don't Use the Snooze Button, and You Shouldn't Either:

1. It's making you even more tired- It's true. Pushing the snooze button is a habit that sends your body into turmoil. When your alarm goes off and pulls you out of an REM cycle, you may still feel a little tired but once you get up and moving your body starts to adjust and soon you will feel alert and awake. When you hit the snooze button though, and you close your eyes again, your body starts the REM cycle all over again. It is impossible for it to complete that cycle and so then your sleep rhythm is out of whack. It's pretty much the equivalent of being woken up in the middle of the night and then expecting yourself to be fully functioning. It just doesn't happen. Therefore, that extra few minutes of sleep is actually setting you back quite a bit.

2. It robs you of mental clarity-Your brain gets confused and you will feel foggy and disoriented for much longer than you would had you just gotten out of bed. I tested this theory, and sure enough even though I was feeling tired when I woke up with my alarm, I was able to perk up and feel alert after a few gentle stretches and a big glass of water. Our brains function very closely with sleep on an internal circadian clock. This is highly aroused by different hormones that are released during the sleep cycle, so you can imagine how unfortunate it is to start that cycle over and have our brains still in the sleep cycle, while our body is regretfully awake. I believe this is what is happening when we feel like walking zombies.

3. It increases your stress level- I mean, let's face it, if we had an extra 10-20 minutes to sleep we would probably have set our alarm 2o minutes later to begin with. Instead, we hit the snooze button and then jump full force into the race against the clock. This increases our stress level and our anxiety in the morning as we often have places to be and don't want to be late. Is it really worth it? or could that time had been better spent preparing for your day.

4. I causes a lack in self care- Because the snooze button robs us of an extra 10-20 minutes each morning, we often sacrifice other important parts of our routine in order to make up for lost time. For some this is the difference between a healthy breakfast, a shower or exercise. Considering the fact that all of those things can contribute to fatigue as well. It is a better use of our time to make sure that our body and mind is properly cared for in order for us to have the most amount of success possible in our day.

5. It increases moodiness- Chances are once you finally surrender to the alarm clock and get yourself up, you are feeling groggy, rushed and even irritable. The reasons above explain what happens and that leaves to an obvious poor start to the day. Many people who start the day out that way, aren't ever really able to recover and therefore your entire day is left feeling "off". Our moods have a lot to do with our productivity each day, and it's important that we set ourselves up for as mush success as possible.

So what's the answer? I can't say for sure. I DO know sleep is a very important part of adulting. It is just as much our responsibility to get a decent nights sleep and take care of our body as it is to work a job and pay our bills. Life gets in the way sometimes and makes it hard to get enough sleep and then we are left feeling tired. It's a vicious cycle.

All I know is that since I gave up my beloved snooze button, I have had better mornings and have experienced much less brain fog. I no longer feel like a walking zombie and though I DO feel tired when my alarm goes off, as soon as I start moving I feel well enough to go about my day.

Give it a try, just say NO to the snooze button for two weeks and see what happens.