When you get rudely interrupted by your alarm in the morning, you know you should get up, but you’re still tired, and your bed is unbelievably comfortable. Should you take another 5, 10, or 15 min?
Most of us hit that snooze button for a few extra minutes of sleep but fighting your alarm every day can make you more tired during the day and reck your sleep.
How Snoozing Messes With Your Sleep Cycle
In a perfect situation, your head hits the pillow while you feel a bit tired, and that causes you to fall asleep between 5-10 min. You are in light sleep now, and your heart rate slows down, and your body temperature starts to drop.
After light sleep comes the deeper stages of sleep. These stages are super important because it is the period when your body starts repairing and growing. After deep sleep, you get REM sleep (which stands for rapid eye movement) what is a period where your brain is highly active and in a dream state. Although REM is super intensive it is also restorative. You have multiple cycles of these stages that have a duration of around 90 min.
So what does all this have to do with the snooze button? When your alarm goes off in the morning, you’re usually nearing the end of your last REM cycle.
Wake up and get yourself out of bed, and the REM cycle ends. Hit the snooze button and go back to sleep, though, and you throw yourself right back into the REM cycle. When your alarm goes off a second time, it wakes you up in the middle of REM instead of at the end of REM. As a result, you end up feeling foggy and disoriented. Not exactly the best way to start your day.
The Long Term Consequences of Hitting Snooze
If you went to bed on time, your internal clock keeps track of the sleep cycles and can wake you up just before your alarm goes off. Waking up before or at the same time as your alarm is a sign that you had enough sleep. But by snoozing and going back to sleep you mess with that internal clock your body does not understand anymore when it is time to wake up or sleep.
And if your body doesn’t know when it’s time to go to sleep, you could be spending a lot of time tossing and turning. As a result, you end up getting less of the quality sleep you need. And it doesn’t take long. Just one week of poor sleep can mess with hundreds of genes in your body—leading to heightened stress, lowered immunity, and increased inflammation. All these effects can add up and cause serious health conditions.
What To Do Instead of Hitting Snooze
The answer is simple: Get out of bed. Yes, waking up as soon as your alarm goes off will probably feel unpleasant at first. But after a few minutes, that groggy feeling will wear off—and you’ll start your day feeling refreshed and ready for action. If you don’t trust yourself to say no to the lure of the snooze button? Try putting your alarm on the other side of your bedroom, far away from your bed.
Still curious? Learn more about our platform Growth By Curiosity and discover more…
Source of the article
Last modified: January 8, 2021
