The Science of Snooze: How Hitting the Alarm Affects Your Morning Energy

f you're one of the countless people who find solace in pressing the snooze button on your alarm clock, you've probably been warned that this habit can leave you feeling more tired. However, a recent study challenges this common belief, suggesting that snoozing might actually have some benefits, particularly for individuals dealing with morning tiredness. In this article, we'll delve into the findings of this study and explore whether hitting snooze on your alarm can truly impact your morning routine.

The Study and Its Participants

The study in question was conducted in two parts, involving more than 1,700 participants who answered an online questionnaire about their sleep and waking habits. This included questions about whether they engaged in the practice of snoozing their alarms. Surprisingly, the results unveiled some unexpected insights.

Snoozers: Younger, Less Sleep, and Evening People

The participants who reported snoozing their alarms, even occasionally, were found to be, on average, six years younger than those who never hit the snooze button. These snoozers also got 13 minutes less sleep per night on workdays, but there was no difference in sleep duration on weekends or sleep quality.

More intriguingly, individuals who indulged in snoozing were four times more likely to consider themselves evening people, and three times more likely to feel drowsy after waking up. This suggests that snoozing might be a common coping mechanism for those struggling to face the early morning light.

Why People Hit the Snooze Button

To understand the motivations behind snoozing, the study asked participants why they preferred this approach. The primary reason reported was the feeling of being too tired to wake up. Many participants also confessed that snoozing felt good and allowed for a slower, more gradual awakening. Interestingly, around 10% of respondents set multiple alarms because they were worried about not waking up when the first one goes off.

The Sleep Lab Experiment

In the second part of the study, 31 habitual snoozers were recruited to a sleep lab. Researchers used polysomnography to monitor their sleep, allowing them to assess sleep stages throughout the night. On one morning, the participants were permitted to snooze three times before waking up, while on the other morning, they slept through those 30 minutes and only had one alarm at the end. The study included cognitive tests, cortisol level measurements, and assessments of sleepiness and mood.

Surprising Results: Snoozing Has Its Benefits

The experiment revealed that when participants were allowed to hit the snooze button, their sleep was lighter and less restful during the last 30 minutes before waking up. However, they still managed to get around 23 minutes of additional sleep on average, only six minutes less than when they didn't snooze. In terms of the overall night's sleep, there was no difference in terms of sleep duration or quality between snoozing and not snoozing.

What's particularly intriguing is that participants who snoozed actually performed slightly better on several cognitive tests right after getting up. This improvement may be attributed to the opportunity to wake up more slowly, potentially warding off sleep inertia, the groggy feeling many people experience upon waking.

Furthermore, the small difference in cortisol levels in participants right after waking up was indicative of a slower and less abrupt awakening, as a stronger cortisol awakening response is associated with reduced sleep inertia.

The Bottom Line: Snooze if It Works for You

While this research offers hope to those who appreciate the snooze button, it doesn't imply that this method is optimal for everyone. If you're naturally an alert early riser, snoozing might have no discernible benefit for you. The key is to strike a balance between quality sleep and waking up gradually. So, if you find that hitting snooze helps you start your day on the right foot, our study suggests you can continue doing so without guilt – just ensure you're getting enough sleep before that first alarm rings.

The notion that hitting snooze always makes you more tired in the morning might not be as straightforward as once believed. It's all about knowing your body and how it responds to waking up. If you're a snoozer, take comfort in the fact that science supports your preference, as long as it contributes to a more energetic and productive start to your day.