Adding things up can be distressing.
Example:
Every night, before I go to sleep, I set my alarm for 7am. In this comparatively clear-minded moment, I nevertheless indulge in the fantasy that I will be out of the house by 8 o'clock in the morning.
Every morning when the alarm clock goes off at 7 o'clock, I hit snooze.
Three or four minutes later it goes off again. It's from IKEA and it has an annoyingly short snooze time. I rarely get to sleep in between the alarms, but if I do, then I just have to wake up again to swipe at the bloody thing, which is a small silver circular clock, which stands up by balancing on a tiny area sliced out of its base. Keeping it balanced is a fine art, especially when blearily waving your arm about behind you, lying down, and feeling your way around the surface of your night table because you can't be bothered to turn around.
At about 7.30, I grumpily turn off the alarm and heave myself out of bed, leaving Krissa to complete the full twisted-sheet cocoon that she subconsciously and constantly attempts to form when she's asleep. She never hears the alarm, and sleeps through all of it.
So for two and a half hours a week, I have this shitty, low-grade, annoying and semi-stressful sleep experience.
Two and a half hours a week, ten and a bit hours a month, or 130 HOURS A YEAR.
Each year I spend five and a half days hitting 'snooze', trying to eke out three more minutes of sleep in my pit of denial and sloth.
I could just set the alarm for 7.30 and get up straight away.
Theoretically.
I know I could set up the alarm clock across the room, so that to turn it off I'd already be out of bed...but I don't want to. That's too efficient. I like bed. Bed is good.
Good to see I'm not alone in this habit then :)
That's exactly what I go through every morning, except 45 minutes earlier. Though normally, the other person in the bed (my husband) wakes up by the time I leave.
My old alarm clock gave me 9mins at a time for 2 hours(!). It was nice, a slow way to wake up a little at a time. My new alarm clock gives me 9mins still, but for only 45 mins. This means after 45 mins i have to reset the clock (because it WONT TURN OFF with the snooze button) and go through the process all again. Because, YES, it takes me the full 2 hours to wake!
I could easily use a full 2 hours of snooze. It is unfortunate that I married an anti-snoozite. He does not appreciate the snooze AT ALL. I simply am not capable of waking up on the first blare. And no, I would never put the clock on the other side of the room. Anti-snoozites do not understand that the snoozing is part of the process. I am miserable if I am forced to skip it.
Even if I'm surprised to find it in myself, I'm totally with you, Craige.
Snoozing is great.
I have the same clock on my desk, don't use it as an alarm clock though.
My alarm is set for 7am too but I'm a one snoozer. 9 minutes of bliss.
I hate to admit it, but I'm totally anti-snooze. In fact I'm anti-alarm clock. The only time I use an alarm is if I have to get up at some un-godly early hour, like 5am. Even then I wake up before the alarm goes off because I hate the sound so much I'll do anything to prevent it.
I'd set the alarm for 7:30, but that's just me.
The snooze is a false god.
i just found a great alarm clock for you: the blowfly flying alarm clock! just like the golden snitch, it flies around and buzzes until you catch it!
>I know I could set up the alarm clock across the room, so that to turn it off I'd already be out of bed...
i remember trying that in uni.
i had to put it further and further away, as i kept automatically climbing back into bed.
and i gave it up completely when one morning i woke up, IN mid-air, mid-leap across room to switch it off: a disoriented consciousness passenger in a fast-moving active body.
*shudder*