Keep Hitting Snooze: Benefits Revealed By Recent Study
For some, the snooze button isn’t just an extra few minutes of sleep; it’s a part of their morning routine. Take, for example, parents. I used to be famous for…
A couple snooze in this photo.
Jenny Evans via Getty ImagesFor some, the snooze button isn't just an extra few minutes of sleep; it's a part of their morning routine. Take, for example, parents. I used to be famous for hitting the snooze button, or setting multiple alarms. But that was before I became a dad. Now, if my son is up, I'm up. However, there are mornings where a bit of negotiation occurs. I can sometimes convince my boy to crawl into bed for a few minutes of "snuggle time." It's our secret code for squeezing in a few extra minutes of rest before the day starts.
Did you smash that snooze button this morning? We've been told for ages that it's something we shouldn't normalize. But it turns out, fellow snoozers, you don't have to feel guilty anymore: A new study found hitting snooze might not actually be a bad thing.
Researchers at Stockholm University in Sweden couldn't find a lot of actual proof that hitting snooze is bad for us. So they did their own research, according to a studyfinds article.
They brought more than 30 regular snoozers to a sleep lab for two nights. One morning, they got to hit snooze three times for a total of 30 minutes. On the other, they didn't hit snooze but still got that extra half-hour of sleep.
So which one was better? They found it didn't make a big difference. Even when people hit snooze three times, they still got an extra 24 minutes of sleep. And it was still GOOD sleep. Waking up for a few minutes didn't matter.
It didn't seem to affect their mood, or how tired they felt. And it didn't affect cortisol levels either. That's a hormone that helps us wake up.
They also had each person take a quick test right after they woke up. And some of them actually did better on it after hitting snooze, according to the study.
Your Morning Routine and the Snooze Button
So why the snooze? For many, it's not just a lazy habit, but a comforting pause before tackling the challenges of the day. It's the bittersweet compromise between our inner night owl and the world's early bird schedule. If it works for you and your mornings, it might not be such a bad thing after all.
