Hitting the snooze button to lie down for a few more minutes is natural. However, if this becomes a habit, your body may feel more tired during activities during the day.
Table of Content
1. The danger of habitual snooze alarm
2. What about the long-term impact?
3. How to avoid it?
It feels like I haven’t had enough sleep last night, but the alarm has sounded loud in the morning. Consequently, of course the tendency to snooze alarms is greater. In fact, this can be the root of the problem of a person’s sleep cycle disorder According to AkshatJuneja.
It’s actually perfectly normal for someone to hit the snooze button to lie down for a few more minutes. However, if this becomes a habit, your body may feel more tired during activities during the day.
The danger of habitual snooze alarm
Ideally, the stage of sleep begins with light sleep according to PhysioPathoPharmaco, which is when the heart rate slows down and body temperature slowly drops.
Then, enter into a deep sleep phase. This is a very important stage because at this time the body works hard to regenerate tissues, build muscles and bones, and strengthen immunity.
After that, it continues to the rapid eye movement or REM phase. In this phase, the brain is very active and you begin to experience intense dreams. Generally, the REM phase occurs about 90 minutes from when you first start falling asleep and repeats several times throughout the night.
This stage is very important because it plays a role in the performance the next day. Unfortunately, the habit of pressing the snooze alarm button can make someone wake up while in the middle of the REM phase. As a result, it will be difficult to stay focused and think sharp the next day.
The analogy is this. When the alarm goes off in the morning, the REM cycle is actually over. But when the snooze button is pressed, then you go back to sleep and enter the REM phase again.
Then when the alarm went off again a few minutes later, this sound actually woke me up in the middle of REM. As a result, you are very likely to feel confused and dazed.
What about the long-term impact?
Not only disrupting the sleep cycle, getting used to hitting the snooze alarm can also disrupt the body’s biological clock. When stuck in the habit of pressing snooze repeatedly in the morning, the body’s circadian system will be confused.
In the long run, this will make the body not really sure when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to sleep.
As a result, it is possible that a person is constantly moving and restless during sleep. Sleep quality also decreased. Just one week of lack of sleep will have a negative impact on health, such as:
- Decreased immunity
- Stress increases
- Vulnerable to inflammation
- Difficult to focus
- Easily offended
- It’s easier to get sick
What’s worse than this disrupted sleep cycle is that it increases a person’s risk of suffering from serious problems such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, to decreased cognitive function.
How to avoid it?
In order to stop the habit of pressing the snooze alarm every day, it’s a good idea to first find out what triggers it. Is there something wrong with a bedtime routine? Are there any underlying medical conditions? Anything can be a trigger.
In addition, here are some steps you can take to avoid the bad habit of snooze alarms too often:
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Create a regular routine
As much as possible, set a schedule for going to bed and getting up at the same time each day. This will make it easier for you to wake up in the morning. This consistency also makes falling asleep much easier so sleep quality improves.
The average daily need for sleep is 7-9 hours. If it’s still difficult to shift your bedtime to an earlier one, try moving it slowly starting from 15 minutes earlier and gradually until you get enough sleep.
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Take care of sleep hygiene
Maintaining sleep hygiene includes eating nutritious, maintaining fluid intake, and exercising regularly. All of these can help improve sleep quality. Before going to bed, choose a relaxing activity like reading a book and avoid accessing your phone.
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Treating sleep problems
If the two methods above have been tried but are still stuck pressing the snooze alarm continuously, it may be necessary to consult a doctor about sleep problems. There may be an underlying medical condition that requires professional treatment.
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Light
It’s important to let the light in in the morning when it’s time to wake up. This signals for the body to actually get up and move.