Hitting snooze can feel like a small act of self-care. Ten more minutes under the covers? Yes, please. But what if that extra time is doing more harm than good? A groundbreaking 2025 study published in Scientific Reports by the journal Nature has revealed that more than half of all people regularly use the snooze button. These short bouts of interrupted sleep, what researchers call “snooze behavior,” may be making you groggier, less focused, and even hurting your long-term health. Here’s a deep dive into why it might be time to break up with your snooze button for good.
The Modern Snooze Button Epidemic
Alarm clocks used to be straightforward. They rang, you got up. Now, apps and smartphones offer customizable snooze functions, often with five to ten-minute intervals that can stretch your wake-up routine by thirty minutes or more. The Scientific Reports study analyzed over 31,000 users and more than 3 million nights of sleep data using the Sleep Cycle app. They found that 55.6 percent of people snoozed, with most users averaging 2.4 snoozes per morning, extending their wake-up time by approximately 11 minutes. That’s a lot of fragmented rest.
While snoozing feels like a productivity buffer, this pattern reflects a widespread problem: many of us are not getting enough quality sleep to begin with. Rather than tackling the root cause, we lean on the snooze button to delay the inevitable, hoping for a better start to the day.
Sleep Inertia and Why It Gets Worse With Snoozing
Have you ever felt groggy, unfocused, or even slightly disoriented after finally getting out of bed? That sensation is called sleep inertia, and the snooze button makes it worse. According to the Scientific Reports findings, repeated waking through snooze alarms increases the intensity and duration of sleep inertia.
This is because your body reenters the sleep cycle during each snooze, especially REM (rapid eye movement) or light sleep, only to be abruptly interrupted again. Instead of waking up cleanly from one sleep phase, snoozing causes you to bounce in and out of stages, leaving you feeling worse than if you had simply gotten up the first time.
One referenced study in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology confirms this. Participants who woke up using the snooze function experienced greater grogginess and slower reaction times compared to those who woke up with one alarm. That lingering foggy feeling doesn’t just impact your mood—it can impair memory, decision-making, and focus throughout the day.
Your Body Clock Takes a Hit
The body relies on a well-regulated circadian rhythm internal 24-hour clock that governs everything from your sleep-wake cycle to hormone production and digestion. Regular wake times help stabilize this clock, promoting better energy and healthier sleep patterns.
Snoozing throws that rhythm off. The Scientific Reports study found that frequent snoozers had less consistent wake times compared to non-snoozers. In essence, your body doesn’t know when to expect to be awake. That inconsistency can disrupt the timing of melatonin release, alertness patterns, and metabolic processes throughout the day.
If you’re trying to wake up earlier or feel more alert in the mornings, snoozing is likely working against you.
It Might Affect Your Cardiovascular Health Too
While the direct long-term health effects of snoozing are still under investigation, fragmented sleep and disrupted circadian rhythms have been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, and increased stress hormones.
One of the potential explanations is the activation of your sympathetic nervous system, the fight-or-flight response. Each alarm jolts your system with a burst of adrenaline, which increases heart rate and blood pressure. Multiply that by three or four snoozes, and you’ve artificially put your body under unnecessary stress before you’ve even had coffee.
Over time, this cumulative stress response can contribute to cardiovascular strain, particularly if snoozing is part of a broader pattern of poor sleep hygiene.
The Snooze Button Doesn’t Give You More Rest
Here’s the most ironic part. That ten extra minutes you crave? It’s not real sleep. Because snoozing typically happens during lighter sleep stages, and because alarms continuously interrupt your cycle, your brain doesn’t reach the restorative phases that help you feel well-rested.
In fact, those final snooze-filled minutes can undo the restful benefits of the previous hours. Instead of waking up refreshed, you may feel more drained and emotionally out of sync. As the Scientific Reports study noted, snoozers often report lower subjective sleep quality despite getting the same total time in bed as non-snoozers.
You may be in bed longer, but you’re not gaining anything from it.
Psychological Dependence on Snoozing
Snoozing also reflects an emotional pattern: avoidance. It can be a sign that you’re dreading your day, unmotivated, or mentally drained. While it’s not a clinical condition, researchers have noted that people who rely on snoozing often struggle with delayed sleep phase syndrome, procrastination tendencies, or even low-grade anxiety about the upcoming day.
In short, snoozing becomes a coping mechanism. But like most coping mechanisms that offer short-term relief, it doesn’t solve the underlying issue and may even make it worse. Instead of snoozing, reflecting on what you’re avoiding might help you find better morning habits or evening routines to improve your mindset.
What the Study Actually Said
The 2025 Scientific Reports study makes one thing clear: snoozing is widespread but counterproductive. Researchers also noted that many snoozers believed they were benefiting from the habit, showing a clear gap between perceived and actual effects.
Interestingly, many people used the snooze function without even being aware they were doing it so frequently. The behavior was often automatic, forming part of an unconscious morning routine. In other words, it’s a habit—one that science suggests is worth breaking.
How to Break the Snooze Button Habit
If you’re ready to leave the snooze button behind, here are some science-backed steps to help you succeed.
1. Move Your Alarm Out of Reach
Place your phone or alarm clock across the room so you have to get up to turn it off. Physical movement helps reduce sleep inertia and prevents unconscious snoozing.
2. Set a Consistent Wake-Up Time
Train your body to expect the same wake-up time every day, even on weekends. This strengthens your circadian rhythm and makes waking easier over time.
3. Use Gradual Light Alarms
Try an alarm that uses light to simulate a sunrise. These are less jarring than sound-based alarms and help your brain wake more gently.
4. Go to Bed Earlier
If you’re constantly tempted to snooze, chances are you’re not getting enough sleep. Prioritize 7 to 9 hours of rest each night and reduce screen time before bed.
5. Avoid Multiple Alarms
Resist setting back-to-back alarms with short intervals. This encourages fragmented sleep. Instead, commit to one wake-up time and stick to it.
6. Establish a Morning Routine You Look Forward To
A cup of your favorite coffee, a quick walk, or a podcast you enjoy can make mornings something to anticipate rather than dread. Motivation helps beat the urge to snooze.
7. Reflect on Why You’re Snoozing
Is it physical fatigue, mental stress, or emotional burnout? Identifying the root cause can lead to lifestyle improvements that go far beyond your alarm clock.
Get Rid of That Snooze Button
Snoozing feels harmless, but science says otherwise. The Scientific Reports study adds a fresh perspective to what many already suspect: hitting the snooze button is a temporary fix with long-term consequences. It disrupts sleep cycles, worsens grogginess, and could even impact heart health. More importantly, it reinforces unhealthy patterns that make mornings feel harder than they need to be.
By understanding why we snooze and using practical strategies to stop, we can reclaim our mornings and improve our overall well-being. So tomorrow morning, when your alarm rings, resist the urge to tap that button. Your brain, your heart, and your day will thank you.
