Is Hitting the Snooze Button Bad for You? Understanding the Effects

You're fast asleep when that dreadful sound of your alarm interrupts your dreams. It's 6:30 am, and you're thinking about hitting the snooze button, thinking, "I just want a few more minutes of sleep."

It's a common habit, but is it actually doing us any good? The argument over whether hitting the snooze button is bad for you or healthy has been going on for years.

According to a survey, over one in three adults hits the snooze button three times before finally getting up, and more than half in their twenties and early thirties admit to hitting snooze every single morning. [1]

Below, I'll examine the effects of the snooze button and what it does to your sleep quality and health. Is it a harmless way to get a few extra minutes of sleep, or does it disrupt your sleep cycle and leave you feeling more tired than ever?

What Happens When We Hit the Snooze Button

We've all experienced it: that moment when the blaring alarm disrupts our sleep, and we desperately reach for the snooze button to steal a few more precious minutes of rest.

But is snooze bad for you or as harmless as it appears? We'll take a closer look at what actually occurs when you hit the snooze button and why it might not be the ideal way to kick off your day.

Disrupts Your Sleep Cycle

Our sleep is divided into different stages, each with its own unique characteristics. One of the most important stages, known as REM sleep, is crucial for memory consolidation, learning, and emotional regulation.

The majority of your REM sleep is obtained in the second half of your overall sleep. 

When you hit the snooze button, you could be jeopardizing valuable time spent in REM sleep. At best, you may be able to fall back asleep and achieve a few minutes of Light sleep, but this is not restorative sleep.

This can leave you feeling groggy, irritable, and less alert throughout the day, a phenomenon known as ‘sleep inertia.’

The Impact of Multiple Alarms

By constantly hitting the snooze button can have a negative impact on your body’s internal clock. Our bodies are designed to follow a natural sleep-wake cycle. The frequent interruptions caused by snoozing, can throw off this rhythm resulting in feeling of disorientation and fatigue.

Why We Hit Snooze?

Who hasn’t hit the snooze button one too many times? It’s like our bodies are saying, 'Just a few more minutes!' For people who want more sleep, 57% of people hit the snooze button, while on average, the button gets hit twice before finally getting out of bed.

Our natural sleep drive is powerful, and when an alarm interrupts it, we’re tempted to snuggle back under the covers. Plus, that sudden noise can be a bit jarring, making it harder to shake off the feeling of "sleepiness." No wonder the snooze button is so irresistible, even though we know it’s not the best or healthiest way to start your day.

Negative Effects of Hitting the Snooze Button

Occasional use of the snooze button is probably OK. But if you overdo it, it can be extremely problematic for good sleep habits and overall sleep health. But what we’ve found is that repetitive waking and then dropping back asleep disrupts proper functioning during the daytime hours.

Did You Know: Prioritizing seven to eight hours of sleep per night is ideal for sustaining good sleep habits.

Yet, it’s worth saying that everyone’s experience may differ, and some people may not experience any of the following.

Fragmentation of REM Sleep

When you use the snooze button, you become a ripe target for sleep fragmentation. The body and brain are inherently designed to progress systematically through 4 stages of sleep. Stages 1-3 are known as Non-Rapid Eye Movement (N-REM). Stage 4 is called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. One round of stages 1-4 lasts (on average) about 90 minutes. [2]

In most cases, when the alarm goes off in the morning, you are transitioning out of REM or light sleep. After you press snooze, you might try to get right back into REM, with the alarm jolting you awake a mere nine minutes later.

There's just not enough time to get back into those normal stages of restorative sleep. [3] This can keep you in that zombie-like state of grogginess even longer and doesn't really help us out in overall sleep health. [4]

Delayed Sleep Onset

Repeatedly hitting the snooze button can disrupt your body's natural sleep patterns, making it more difficult to doze off at night. This can create a harmful pattern of insufficient sleep, leading to an increased dependence on snoozing.

Repeated Arousal

Every time your alarm goes off, you're basically shocking yourself awake. This repeated interruption can disturb your sleep, making it more difficult to achieve deep sleep.

Also, research has said that it can cause a sudden and repeated rise and fall in heart rate. Sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley explained it well when he said that the alarm clock "scares the wits out of you, and your heart rate shoots up…your stress hormones rocket." [para. 4] [5]

Mood Disorders

Sleep deprivation, often caused by frequent snoozing, can increase the risk of mood disorders like depression and anxiety.

Reduced Productivity

Snoozing too often can disrupt your sleep, leading to decreased concentration, focus, and overall productivity.

Impaired Cognitive Function

Lack of quality sleep, often caused by excessive snoozing, can negatively impact your cognitive functions, such as memory, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Can Confuse the Brain

If you find yourself regularly hitting the snooze button, you could potentially be conditioning your brain to have an even more difficult time waking up each morning.

What does hitting snooze do to your brain? Some researchers believe that the regular use of the snooze alarm trains your brain to consider sleeping more rather than saying it's time to get out of bed when the alarm goes off.

So, periodic use of hitting the snooze button might not have this effect, but if you hit it regularly, it can possibly make it more difficult to break the habit.

Sleeping Tip: Hitting snooze only once is less detrimental to your sleep health than you hitting it over and over. Try to limit the additional relaxation time to nine minutes rather than 18 or 24. The more times you refuse to get out of bed, the more your brain is confused and the increased risk for sleep inertia.

Can Cause Fragmented Sleep

When you use the snooze button, you become ripe targets for fragmented sleep.

The body and brain are inherently designed to progress systematically through 4 stages of sleep. Stages 1-3 are known as Non-Rapid Eye Movement (N-REM). Stage 4 is called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. One round of stages 1-4 lasts (on average) about 90 minutes. [6]

In most cases, when the alarm goes off in the morning, you are transitioning out of REM or light sleep. After you press snooze, you might dive right back into REM, with the alarm jolting you awake a mere nine minutes later.

There’s just not enough time to get back into those normal stages of restorative sleep. [7]This can keep you in that zombie-like state of grogginess even longer and doesn’t really help us out in overall sleep health. [8]

Additional Resource: Want to learn more about the human REM and Non-REM sleep cycles? Check out our in-depth article on Different Types of Sleep Stages.

How Does Snoozing Impact Your Health?

A complex series of hormonal, neurochemical, and brain wave pattern changes guide the progression from one sleep stage to the next.

Our bodies and brains respond by promoting the following:

• Muscle and Bone Growth
• Memory Consolidation
• Relaxation and Stress Relief
• Immune System Function

So, in order to get the required amount of sleep that's restful and restorative, you need to cycle through between 4 and 6 sleep cycles per night. [9] [10]

Dr. Chris Winter, Men's Health sleep advisor and author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It, advises that repeated slamming of the snooze button causes a number of negative health impacts. [11]

Jumbled Hormones

A perilous domino effect occurs when melatonin (sleep hormone) decreases as cortisol (a wake hormone) is ramped up. As you snooze, these hormones go up and down, causing confusion regarding what's really supposed to be happening.

Other chemicals, such as serotonin and dopamine, get similarly entangled in the misinformation. This includes dysregulation of an appetite hormone called ghrelin, which messes up your hunger cues.

Sleep Drunkenness

This happens when cognitive processes aren't quite put into full gear. People get disoriented more easily and have trouble making logical decisions. Dr. Winter emphasizes that it's similar to actually being drunk.

How to Stop Hitting Snooze

If hitting snooze feels automatic every morning, it might be time to switch things up. Try moving your alarm across the room or using softer wake-up sounds to ease into the day. Even small changes can reset your routine.

Read our blog on how to stop snoozing for science-backed tips to wake up refreshed—no endless alarms required.

Wrapping It Up

Occasionally, hitting the snooze isn’t always a bad idea. Like any other tool or piece of equipment, you'll have to use it wisely.

Be kind to your body (and mind), and it will reward you.

The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to make sleep a priority. And waking up feeling refreshed. Research has shown definitively that those who get high-quality sleep reap unending benefits in physical, medical, cognitive, and mental health. Besides, it’s more fun to go through life awake!