How many times did you hit the snooze button this morning?
Many people are guilty of doing this in the hope that they can get just a few more minutes of sleep before they actually need to get out of bed.
These days, people use their phones to set alarms to help them wake up in the morning, and because many sleep with their phones next to them, it’s so easy to reach out and tap snooze.
The snooze function is usually easier to access than the one that switches the alarm off completely.
While you might think that those extra ten minutes between hitting the snooze button is actually allowing you to slip in some more sleep, sleep experts caution that this habit may be more detrimental than beneficial.
Regularly hitting snooze can disrupt your sleep cycle, impair cognitive function, and leave you feeling groggier throughout the day.
“Many of us hit the snooze alarm in the morning with the hope of getting a ‘little more sleep,’ but this widely practiced phenomenon has received little attention in sleep research. In a global sample we found that more than half of sleep sessions end in a snooze alarm, and users spent an average of 11 minutes in between snooze alarms each morning before waking,” said lead author Rebecca Robbins, PhD, in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.
“Unfortunately, the snooze alarm disrupts some of the most important stages of sleep,” she adds.
Here’s why consistently hitting the snooze button might be doing more harm than good.
Disruption of REM sleep
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which occurs in the latter part of the night, is crucial for emotional regulation and memory consolidation.
“The hours just before waking are rich in rapid eye movement sleep. Hitting the snooze alarm will interrupt these critical stages of sleep and typically only offer you light sleep in between snooze alarms,” explains Robbins.
Increased sleep inertia
Sleep inertia is that heavy, sluggish feeling you get after waking abruptly.
It can last for up to an hour and significantly impair your alertness, decision-making, and reaction time.
If you’re trying to get a head start on your day, this kind of mental fog can derail your productivity and mood before your coffee even kicks in.
It trains your brain to ignore alarms
The more you hit snooze, the more you condition your brain to ignore your alarm.
Over time, this can lead to a subconscious belief that alarms are optional or not urgent, making it harder to get up on time consistently.
This creates a negative feedback loop that not only affects your mornings but also your discipline and daily schedule.
“The best approach for optimising your sleep and next day performance is to set your alarm for the latest possible time, then commit to getting out of bed when your first alarm goes off,” Robbins suggests.
What to do instead
- Set a realistic alarm time. If you know you’ll hit snooze five times, try setting your alarm for the actual time you need to get up.
- Move your alarm across the room. This forces you to physically get out of bed, which helps break the snooze habit.
- Establish a consistent sleep schedule. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends, helps regulate your body’s internal clock.
- Create a wake-up ritual. Light exposure, a glass of water, or a quick stretch can signal to your body that it’s time to start the day.
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Lifestyle
