“Unfortunately, the snooze alarm disrupts some of the most important stages of sleep,” Robbins noted. “The best approach… is to set your alarm for the latest possible time… and commit to getting out of bed.”
A new study has revealed that over half of the world’s population uses the snooze button, despite experts warning it may harm sleep quality.
Published in Scientific Reports, the research analyzed over three million sleep sessions from 21,222 users of the SleepCycle app. It found that 55.6% of sleep sessions included snoozing, with the average user spending 10.8 minutes snoozing and pressing the button about 2.4 times.
“Many of us hit the snooze alarm in the morning with the hope of getting a ‘little more sleep,’ but this widely practiced phenomenon has received little attention in sleep research,” said Rebecca Robbins of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Patterns showed more snoozing on weekdays, especially among users in the U.S., Sweden, and Germany. Surprisingly, people who slept less snoozed less, possibly due to tighter schedules.
“Unfortunately, the snooze alarm disrupts some of the most important stages of sleep,” Robbins noted. “The best approach… is to set your alarm for the latest possible time… and commit to getting out of bed.”
READ MORE AT DISCOVER MAGAZINE