Every morning, millions of people fight a battle with themselves and their alarm clock snooze button. The buzzer goes off, you quickly silence the annoying machine with a slap of your palm then roll over and have “just a few more minutes”.

But hitting the snooze button is a bad idea.

The sleep you manage to get between snooze alarms is very low quality, leaving you feeling groggy and more tired. Also, the snooze button really tests your limited willpower – which you could be using more constructively.

Here are some ideas to help you kick your addictive snooze button habit!

Use two alarm clocks

Keep one by your bed (perhaps your phone) to wake you from sleep and then put one on the other side of the bedroom or in the bathroom to go off a few minutes later. That way, once you’re awake, you have a short time to get up and dash to the other alarm to switch it off!

Mental preparation

It’s important to convince yourself that you don’t need to go back to bed. It may be worth setting your bathroom heating or shower to a nice warm temperature so that the cold doesn’t make you stay wrapped in your warm duvet.

It’s often the case that on a day that you actually want to wake up and get out of bed at a certain time, you’ll wake up before the alarm. So the key here is to stay motivated – start your day positively and with a definite aim of achieving your goals!

Morning activity or exercises

It helps to get into a routine of getting straight out of bed and starting the day actively. Try some push-ups or sit-ups every morning for 30 seconds and you’ll soon notice that your body will awaken fast. Increasing your heart rate will make you feel instantly warm and alert!

Treat yourself!

You could promise yourself something good for waking up early. Perhaps a special breakfast or even just telling yourself that you’ve achieved something awesome before you’ve even started your day! Write it down or say it aloud: “I did it”. Then you can use the way you feel as excellent motivation for doing the same the next day, the day after that and so on.

Hydrate your body and mind

Drink a big glass glass of water as soon as you wake up. The instant hydration in your body will wake up your senses as well as your muscles. Try adding some fresh lemon to give you an extra zap! (It also helps prepare your stomach before breakfast and cleanses your skin).

Muscle memory?

Some people have managed to turn the act of getting out of bed into a muscle memory so it becomes a natural, easy thing to do each day. You could practice by getting into bed, setting your alarm two minutes out and when it goes off, immediately stretch, take a deep breath and get up. Repeat this a few times to get your body and mind used to the specific activity.

If you’re able to take away the need to make a decision in the morning, the physical act of getting up will become easier as it will be a natural response to the sound of your alarm. Repeated actions tend to become embedded in your brain so when you hit that snooze button over and over, you’re just reinforcing the habit. Counter this bad habit by practicing a good one!

Set your alarm at the optimum time

Try to set your alarm to go off at a time that doesn’t give you any excuse to lay in bed for another 5 or 10 minutes! If you use your phone as an alarm, schedule 8 hours sleep time and put it out of reach of your bed.

Get into the habit of switching your tech gadgets off at least an hour before you go to bed so your brain has time to relax. You could use your phone to set a alarm or reminder which plays calming music to remind you to switch off and start to unwind.

What to wake up to?

Some people find that they need their brains to be challenged as soon as they wake up and apps have been developed which require you to solve a maths problem before you can turn off the alarm! By the time you’ve solved the sum, your brain is awake and ready to encourage your body to start the day.

If darkness or winter mornings are a problem for you, try using a sunrise alarm clock. It’s basically a standard clock with a lamp attached which gradually grows brighter to mimic sunrise at a time that’s best for you. It’s a nice way to wake up naturally and makes you less tired.

Waking up to music is also a popular choice and is especially effective if the volume gets louder over time. If it starts softly, you will wake more gently rather than being jarred awake by loud rock which may just make you want to smash your alarm against the wall!

Shock tactics!

Buy an alarm clock that doesn’t allow you to use a snooze function!

If that doesn’t work, how about sticking some upturned drawing pins onto your snooze button?!