What Happens to Your Body When You Keep Hitting the Snooze Button

We spend 3.5 months of our lives hitting the snooze button. And although doing so once in a while won’t really affect you, snoozing regularly can do much more than cause you to sleep worse at night. Turns out, sneaking in more sleep after your alarm goes off might affect your weight, your skin, and even your reproductive health.

We at Bright Side are also guilty of fighting the alarm early in the morning, but we are seriously considering changing this habit after doing this research. And we prepared a bonus for you at the end of the article to help you break the snooze addiction more easily.

1. It might mess up your sleep cycle.

About 2 hours before you actually wake up, your body begins to prepare itself for starting the day. Your temperature rises, and your body releases chemicals that are responsible for making you feel awake. When you get up after hearing your first alarm, your body is well-prepared for the waking process. But if you press the snooze button and go back to sleep, chances are you will feel drowsy and groggy long after you actually wake up.

2. You may feel more tired throughout the day.

You might be thinking that hitting snooze will allow you to get some extra sleep and feel more energized throughout the day, but in reality, it works the other way around. In fact, a survey of almost 20,000 people showed that snoozers are more likely to feel tired during the day. And although napping after you press the snooze button every once in a while won’t seriously affect you, doing so regularly might lead to sleep deprivation in the long run.

3. It’s bad for your gut health.

Drifting off after you hit snooze confuses your body’s internal clock and affects the quality of your sleep. When your body isn’t sure when it’s time to go to sleep and to wake up, you are more likely to spend the night tossing and turning and getting less sleep than you need. As a result, it might affect your overall health, leading to metabolic disorders and causing you to gain weight.

4. Your skin may become more sensitive.

Even if you’re taking good care of your skin, constant sleep deprivation might sabotage your efforts and cause your skin to break out. When you’re not getting enough sleep, it raises the stress hormone levels in your body, which in turn leads to inflammation, the overproduction of sebum, and clogged pores.

5. It might affect your immune system.

Stealing a few extra minutes of sleep for yourself might feel tempting, but making it a habit will cause all the negative effects of hitting snooze to add up. For instance, you might find yourself feeling sick more often than you used to. This happens because a constant lack of sleep weakens your body’s defense mechanisms, and your immune system can’t protect you against viruses as effectively as it should.

6. It can throw off your menstrual cycle.

As good as hitting the snooze button early in the morning might feel, doing so on a daily basis might affect your reproductive health. Irregular sleeping patterns affect your reproductive hormones, which are responsible for periods and ovulation. Skimping on sleep will eventually build more stress in your body, which in turn can cause irregular or missed periods.

Bonus: How to break the habit of hitting snooze

If you find yourself regularly pressing snooze, consider some life changes that can help you replace it with healthier habits.

• Get active. People who are more physically active are less likely to use the snooze button. Make it a habit to walk at least half an hour a day and see how it affects your habit of snoozing.
• Put your alarm on the other side of your bedroom. This age-old trick may help you to resist the urge to snooze.
• Turn on the light. It’s harder to wake up when it’s dark, and turning on the lights might help you wake up better.
• Invest in a clock that doesn’t have a snooze setting. It doesn’t get any simpler than this: if your alarm doesn’t have a snooze button you won’t feel tempted to go back to sleep. Opt for a clock that is designed to slowly wake you up without a snooze option.

Are you a snoozer? Do you know any other ways to break this habit?

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