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It’s warm under the covers and the outside world is cold, dark and unattractive. Nine minutes left. That can’t hurt, right? Before you know it you’ve hit snooze three times. You think you have gotten some extra rest, but neurologists warn that you are actually sabotaging yourself.
According to sleep experts, this patchy sleep is of poor quality. Your body does not rest, but rather becomes stressed. As a result, you wake up feeling more tired and grumpy than if you had gone out straight away.
Sleep inertia: a confused brain
When your alarm goes off for the first time, your body wakes up. Your temperature rises slightly and hormones are released that make you alert. You are ready to start. By turning over again, you give your brain a contradictory signal.
You fall back into a new sleep cycle. The big problem, scientists explain, is that a complete sleep cycle normally lasts about 75 to 90 minutes. When the alarm goes off again after nine minutes, you force yourself out of the deep sleep phase (REM sleep) you had just started.
Experts call this phenomenon sleep inertia. It creates that heavy, drunk and confused feeling in your head. That feeling does not go away after five minutes, but can linger for up to four hours. So you start your day with a neurological delay.
A blow to your heart
Besides confusing your brain, it is also a physical attack. Sleep researcher Matthew Walker compares it to an attack on your heart. Every time that alarm goes off, your body gets a shot of stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) and your heart rate increases. It’s the classic fight-or-flight response.
If you hit snooze three times, you give your body an acute stress response three times in a row within half an hour. Instead of waking up peacefully, you start the day with a series of micro-panic attacks on your nervous system.
The advice from the pros
The advice from sleep medicine is clear: leave that button alone. Only set your alarm when you really have to get out. If you normally set the alarm at 7:00 AM and snooze until 7:30 AM, just set it immediately at 7:30 AM. That half hour of continuous sleep is much more restorative than three times nine minutes of stress sleep.
Can’t you make it? Put your phone on the other side of the room. Then you have to get out of bed to turn it off. As soon as you stand, the temptation to dive back is much smaller. After a few days you will be clearer than ever.
