Is hitting the snooze button bad for your health?

If your morning routine involves hitting the snooze button, it may be time to get a new one. Using the snooze button and going back to sleep repeatedly has been shown to disrupt healthy sleeping patterns, leaving you more drowsy when it’s time to take on the day. In order to increase optimal functioning and avoid health issues, it’s best to get out of bed as soon as you hear your first alarm. Read on as we go into depth about the sleep cycle, how pressing the snooze button interferes with it, and how to enhance your sleep health!

How the snooze button interferes with your sleep cycle

Hearing your alarm and then hitting the snooze button disrupts the natural rhythm of your sleep cycle. Most people use the snooze feature with the intention to feel more well rested, but it actually does the opposite. The period of sleep received for a few minutes after pressing the snooze button is not restorative sleep, meaning there are no benefits. Instead of benefits, there are risks, stemming from the disruption of REM sleep and your body’s natural wake cycle.

Disrupting REM sleep

For the purpose of this article, we are focusing on the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of the sleep cycle. The REM stage is the period of time where your brain is highly active, and is when you’re most likely to experience intense dreams. Despite your brain’s increased activity, this period of sleep is actually highly restorative. Throughout your sleep, you will cycle through multiple REM periods. Typically, when you hear your first and hopefully only alarm, you’re finishing up your last REM cycle. However, if you continuously hit the snooze button, it’s likely that your alarm is disrupting your REM sleep. Because we have different arousal thresholds during different stages of sleep, this can actually trigger a flight-or-fight reaction, which in turn can increase your blood pressure and heartbeat. Since the benefits uninterrupted REM sleep provides are crucial for optimal functioning, not getting enough REM sleep will, at the very least, decrease your energy levels the following day.

Sleep inertia

During your sleep cycle, your body starts preparing to wake up by raising your body temperature and releasing hormones that promote wakefulness. When your first alarm goes off, your body is prepared to wake up, whether you feel it or not. Going back to sleep confuses your body, posing the increased risk of sleep inertia, a temporary disorientation and decline in performance after awakening from sleep. You may be familiar with this feeling even when you do not hit the snooze button, as this is a common feeling that typically lasts around 30 to 60 minutes. However, using the snooze button can cause this feeling to last for hours. Possible effects include decreased reaction time and impairment of short-term memory and thinking, reasoning, and learning.

Healthy sleep habits

Feeling the need to repeatedly hit the snooze button may be a sign of other sleep problems. The importance of healthy sleeping habits often gets overlooked, but we need to prioritize sleep just as we do exercise and diet, as all of these wellness factors are intertwined. Over time, poorsleep can lead to weight gain, cardiovascular risks, reduced immunity, poor mental health, and more. The following tips are intended to jump-start a healthier sleep routine:

• Establish a bedtime: Going to sleep and waking up during a similar time window helps your body prepare for both of these functions. As a result, you will have an easier time falling asleep and waking up. Bringing it back to the snooze button, if your body is ready to wake up but you hit snooze and go back to sleep, it will confuse your body by throwing off your sleep routine.
• Prioritize a healthy amount of uninterrupted sleep: Most healthy adults generally need 7–9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. This varies by person, depending on age, gender, and activity level. Figure out how many hours of sleep are optimal for your needs, and do your best to get in bed in time to reach your goal.
• Reduce stimulants: For most people, simply getting in bed at the right hour isn’t enough. What you do before you fall asleep matters. Drinking caffeine, using electronic devices, or partaking in anything that raises your energy or alertness levels will work against your attempts to sleep. Instead, opt for calming activities before bed, such as reading, meditating, taking a bath, listening to soothing music, or drinking some sleep-promoting tea.
• Exercise: Active people have been shown to sleep better than sedentary individuals. Try prioritizing your physical health by exercising the recommended amount per week for your age group. However, don’t exercise too closely to your bedtime, as exercise is definitely not a calming before-bed activity!
• Consider possible sleep problems: If you have tried all of the previous sleep enhancing tips and your sleep is still off, you may have a chronic sleep condition. Discuss your symptoms with a doctor to explore treatment options.

Snooze button alternatives

There are countless creative ways to wake up. If your sleep troubles only involve the snooze button, here are two alternative routes:

• Invest in a new alarm clock: There are countless apps and alarm clocks that wake you up gradually using light or sound. Designed to align with your natural wake cycle, these options can lead you to feeling more wakeful by the time you get out of bed.
• Change alarm clock placement: For some, simply changing the placement of the alarm clock does the trick. Since most of us are groggy immediately upon waking up, it can be challenging to avoid pressing the snooze button in that state of mind. Consider placing your alarm clock somewhere that you need to get out of bed to turn it off. Once you’re out of bed, it’s easier to stay out, versus deciding to get up while you’re in bed.

Conclusion

Repeatedly pressing the snooze button disrupts your natural wake-up routine. At the very least, repeatedly snoozing your alarm will throw off your body’s natural sleep cycle, causing you to feel groggy throughout the day. However, there are more serious health risks posed by using the snooze feature that should be taken seriously. Prioritize a sleep and wake-up routine that works for you, and monitor your snooze button cravings. If no changes occur, it may be time to consult a healthcare professional about your sleep.

Sophie Labbee

24 Jun 2024, 5 min read