1 in 11 people press snooze at LEAST 5 times each morning

The survey revealed that 66% of those who hit snooze said they do so once or twice each morning, and a quarter (25%) press snooze between three and four times daily. A further 1 in 11 (9%) said they repeatedly pressed snooze five or more times.

Happy Beds’ survey discovered that the main reason people are hitting snooze is that generally, we aren’t getting as much sleep as we would ideally want, and are pressing snooze to try and squeeze more shut eye in each morning. The survey also asked how many hours people slept per night compared to how many hours they actually get, and almost half of people (49%) said that they would like eight to ten hours, as two-thirds of people said they don’t sleep enough each night.

Five ways pressing the snooze button can cause sleep deprivation and more

1. Snoozing your alarm can confuse your circadian rhythm

Your circadian rhythm is an internal, 24-hour body clock. It regulates your alertness and sleepiness over a day, responding to the changes in light. Due to the light in the morning, your brain knows it is time to wake.

Interestingly, the recent turning back of the clocks can reduce the time we spend asleep as we adapt to a new sleep routine and changes in daylight. The week after the clocks change, many people wake earlier and have trouble falling asleep. If we compound this with the prolonged use of the snooze button, your body will get confused. Essentially, it won’t know when it is time to wake and go to sleep as the snooze button encourages you to go back into deep sleep and wakes you within 10 minutes (stopping that sleep in its tracks).

2. Snoozers are ‘chronically tired’

According to this study, those who snooze their alarm regularly were more tired than those who woke up naturally, without an alarm and this can cause chronic tiredness. The sleep experts at Happy Beds can reveal that this is likely because waking up to daylight – without external disturbances – regulates your circadian rhythm. As you wake naturally to the light, your body experiences a stress response and using an alarm can interrupt that.

3. Using the snooze on your alarm increases sleep inertia

Sleep inertia is the groggy, tired feeling you get and can’t shake for a few hours after waking. This is what happens with repeatedly pressing the snooze button, as it can result in your body assuming the first chimes were a false alarm, leaving it in a state of shock when the alarm then frequently goes off.

4. Your sleep will be much lighter, causing you to wake up frequently

If you regularly snooze but feel like your rest is much worse, it could be your alarm. If your sleep is lighter, environmental factors such as your partner snoring or noise outside are more likely to disturb you, resulting in a lack of sleep.

5. You are more likely to reach for the caffeine when snoozing

When we wake naturally, our stress levels (or cortisol levels) are at their peak, and they enhance our alertness. But repeatedly snoozing disrupts your sleep cycles – mainly if you fall into a deep sleep and wake up before that cycle naturally ends. So, you are more likely to reach for caffeine because you don’t feel as alert as you should.

But it’s essential to be careful as drinking too much caffeine in the morning, while cortisol levels are high, can lead to increased caffeine tolerance. Therefore, you reach for it more, and the cycle continues.

So, to ensure that you’re not letting the snooze button ruin your slumber, sleep expert and CEO at Happy Beds Rex Isap, has provided top tips that can help you to stop reaching for the snooze button.

Sleep expert shares top tips for stopping your reliance on the snooze button

Rex Isap, sleep expert at Happy Beds, has revealed that setting multiple alarms makes it more tempting to press snooze, but it can make things worse. Rex explains that “you may be tempted to set multiple alarms, especially if you have to wake up extremely early (for a flight or work). But, doing this can encourage you to opt for the snooze button as you subconsciously know that another alarm is set to wake you. To combat this, make your alarm harder to physically reach. Move your alarm to the other side of your room, where you must get out of the bed to turn it off. That way, you are already out of bed, so getting on with your day is much easier. Also, if your alarm tone is one that brings feelings of stress and irritation, change it.”

“Two other techniques which can be helpful are to put one foot out of your duvet as soon as your alarm goes off and turn a light on. If you are struggling to wake up, remove your foot from under the duvet and put it on the floor. The immediate temperature change can help wake you and tell your brain it is time to get up. In terms of switching on a light, this works because light is the enemy of sleep. If you are struggling to wake up, you need light. Switch the lights on when the alarm goes off so your brain knows it is time to wake up and prepare for the day.

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Credit: Happy Beds : https://www.happybeds.co.uk/blog/more-than-half-of-people-who-use-an-alarm-press-the-snooze-button-every-morning