The Morning Decision Has Been Reopened

The alarm was set at 11pm.

This was a reasonable decision. The person who set it had full information, clear intentions, and a strong preference for getting up early enough to feel good about the morning. They set 7am and went to sleep satisfied.

The person who woke up at 7am was less convinced.

The Reopening

The alarm went off. A decision was made, at 11pm the previous evening, that 7am was the correct time. This decision is now being reviewed. The reviewer is the same person who made the original decision, technically, but they have changed their position. They would like nine more minutes to reconsider.

The snooze button provides nine minutes. This is a very specific amount of time. Not enough to sleep properly. Just enough to feel like you made a choice.

The Record

First alarm: 7:00am. Dismissed. Second alarm: 7:09am. Dismissed. Third alarm: 7:18am. Dismissed. Fourth alarm: 7:27am. Negotiated into a final decision.

The person who got up at 7:27am had intended to get up at 7:00am. They got up twenty-seven minutes later, having slept for none of the intervening time in any useful sense, feeling exactly as tired as they would have felt at 7:00am but now slightly later.

The Precedent Problem

The snooze button works, in the narrow sense that pressing it delays the alarm. The problem is that pressing it once creates a precedent. The body learns that 7:00am is a starting position for negotiation, not a final time. Future alarms are treated as opening offers.

The negotiation is with a previous version of yourself who cannot be reached for comment. They set 7am in good faith. They are not available to defend their position. You are both judge and the party seeking the extension.

You grant it. Every time.

The Solution

The solution is well known. Set the alarm for the time you actually intend to get up. Stop using the snooze button as a buffer for an alarm you set incorrectly.

The solution has been known for years. It has not been implemented. The morning self has veto power over the evening self's plans, and they have always used it, and they always will.

The alarm is set for 7am again tonight.