Is Hitting Snooze On The Alarm Every Morning Good For Sleep Health? Here’s What It Does to Your Brain

Quick Summary

• Nearly 56% of people hit snooze in the morning, averaging 11 extra minutes of light sleep.

• Frequent snoozing can interrupt crucial REM sleep stages—affecting alertness and overall sleep quality.

• Setting your alarm for the latest possible time and getting up immediately benefits sleep health and daytime performance.

Is It Healthy To Snooze The Alarm Every Morning?

Many of us believe that a few extra minutes in bed after the alarm rings is harmless. But while it can sometimes feel comforting, how harmless is it really? Is this habit good for our sleep? And our health in general?

Recent research is shedding new light on this common habit, suggesting that the snooze button may be doing more harm than good to our brains and sleep integrity.

How Common Is Hitting the Snooze Button On The Alarm?

Hitting snooze is one of the most universally practiced morning rituals. A big study analyzing sleep data from over 21,000 people using the Sleep Cycle app found a startling fact: more than half of all sleep sessions, around 56%, end with a snooze. 

So a majority of sleepers habitually rely on that extra shot of sleep, often spending about 11 minutes more in bed after the first alarm.

But while that comforting snuggle back under the sheets might feel harmless, it can actually be setting off a cascade of sleep disruption that leaves us groggier and less alert in the long run.

What Does the Science Say About Snoozing And Sleep Health?

The research, published in Scientific Reports (Robbins et al., 2025), confirms what many sleep experts have long suspected: snoozing isn’t just a harmless ritual. Snoozing the alarm clock actively disrupts the delicate balance of sleep stages your body needs, especially REM sleep. 

These disruptions can contribute to feelings of daytime fatigue, decreased alertness, and even mood swings.

In plain language: hitting snooze might feel like a gentle extension of sleep, but it’s actually fragmenting and diluting your sleep quality. 

How Does Snoozing The Alarm Impact Brain Health?

It’s not merely the habit of snoozing that sleep scientists warn about - it's the disruption it causes during critical sleep stages. The hours right before waking are packed with REM sleep - important for memory, mood regulation, and mental clarity.

Here’s what happens when you hit snooze repeatedly:

• Your light sleep in between alarms prevents your brain from completing those vital REM cycles.

• You break the natural architecture of your sleep - leaving you feeling groggier and less refreshed.

• The cycle of fragmented sleep reduces overall sleep quality, which can impair focus, mood, and even immune function.

Dr. Rebecca Robbins from Brigham and Women’s Hospital emphasizes an important strategy:

"The best approach is to set your alarm for the latest possible time and then get out of bed immediately when it rings." 

This way, you allow your sleep to progress naturally and ensure your body can get as close to completing its full cycle of restorative sleep stages before you need to rise for the day.

What Defines A “Heavy” Alarm Clock Snoozer? 

Not all snoozers are created equal. The study categorized “heavy snoozers”—those relying on the snooze button more than 80% of the mornings studied. These individuals spent about 20 minutes daily in between alarms, often experiencing irregular sleep schedules. 

But, as the study found, such erratic patterns are not trivial; they can fundamentally mess with your body's natural circadian rhythms.

Are There Patterns Behind Snoozing The Alarm Clock?

Interestingly (and unsurprisingly) snoozing habits tend to be influenced by our weekly routines. 

The study showed that people are far more likely to hit snooze during the workweek, especially from Monday to Friday, and less so on weekends. This pattern suggests that our sense of obligation - needing to be somewhere at a specific time - drives those extra minutes in bed.

But what about people who sleep less overall? 

The study noted that those sleeping five hours or fewer tend to snooze less. This makes sense: short sleepers often have to wake up early regardless, and their snooze time is cut short - perhaps because work calls or responsibilities require immediate wakefulness.

Do Some Countries Snooze The Alarm More Than Others?

The study also found that alarm snoozing habits varied by geography: people in the U.S., Sweden, and Germany are the biggest fans of snoozing.

Japanese and Australians tend to hit snooze less often. 

But even though cultural and lifestyle factors might be influencing these differences, the physiological impact remains consistent across the board.

How Can You Break The Alarm Snoozing Habit?

If you’re tired of waking up groggy or feeling like you're stuck in sleep limbo, here are practical tips supported by the latest science:

• Set your alarm for the latest possible time: By doing this, you minimize the chances of snoozing, as the temptation to press snooze diminishes.

• Place your alarm across the room: This forces you to physically get out of bed to turn it off, making it easier to resist the snooze button.

• Create a morning routine that motivates you: Whether it’s a splash of cold water, a morning stretch, or a favorite song, find a trigger that makes getting up easier.

• Consistent sleep schedule: Waking up at the same time every day stabilizes your circadian rhythm, resulting in your nighttime levels of sleepiness becoming more consistent. This, in turn, leads to more consistent going to sleep times, which then make mornings less of a struggle. A classic “virtuous cycle”.

• Prioritize sleep quality: Aim for a solid, consolidated sleep with 1-2 brief wake ups rather than “more sleep” or quantity of sleep. Great sleep quality leaves you more refreshed and reduces the need for extra minutes in bed.

Remember, the goal is to respect your body’s natural sleep cycle. Fragmented sleep - caused by repeatedly breaking REM sleep leaves you ending up exhausted, even if you spent hours in bed.

Clinical Comment: Wake Up Smarter

Most people are surprised to find out that waking at the same time, having a consistent wake time, is considered to be the most important behaviour for sleep health. Yet snoozing the alarm, or lying in bed awake in the morning trying to sleep, is the behaviour most people we work with assume is somehow harmless or even helpful.

The good news is, unlike falling asleep which you can’t control, waking is largely under our control. Just set an alarm. Many people also believe setting an alarm is somehow an “un-natural “ way to wake (another myth). The truth is, for thousands of years our ancestors would have been woken by “nature’s alarm” - the drop in temperature that occurs at dawn. Studies of modern hunter-gather societies find they typically wake at dawn, not because of increasing light, but actually because this is the coldest time of the night.

How does the dawn temperature lead to waking? Well, this time of the night is when we’ll naturally be getting more REM sleep in our sleep cycles. During REM sleep the body is unable to regulate temperature. So the cold temperature interacts with our sleep cycle and we wake to allow our body to adapt and regulate body temperature.

So the next time your alarm jolts you awake, resist the urge to hit snooze. By doing so, you're giving your brain a chance to wake up completely and set a solid foundation for a productive day. 

It may be challenging at first, but training yourself to wake up immediately can lead to better sleep quality, improved mood, and sharper focus over time.

Frequently Asked Questions - What Hitting Snooze Every Morning Does to Your Brain

Q1: Why is hitting the snooze button considered bad for sleep quality?

A1: Hitting snooze disrupts the most important stages of sleep, particularly REM sleep, which is essential for memory, mood, and cognitive function. When you snooze, you often only get light sleep between alarms, which doesn't provide the restorative benefits of deep sleep. This can leave you feeling groggier and less refreshed in the morning.

Q2: How does the snooze button affect your brain and morning alertness?

A2: Continuously interrupting sleep with snooze alarms can impair your brain's ability to fully transition from sleep to wakefulness. This fragmentation reduces the quality of your sleep cycle, making mornings harder and decreasing mental clarity, mood, and overall performance throughout the day.

Q3: What does recent research say about the prevalence of snoozing?

A3: A study analyzing sleep data from over 21,000 people found that more than half used the snooze button in nearly 3 million sleep sessions. On average, sleepers spent about 11 minutes in bed after their initial alarm, with some heavy snoozers hitting snooze over 80% of mornings, often for about 20 minutes.

Q4: Who is most likely to snooze—a short sleeper or a heavy snoozer?

A4: Heavy snoozers tend to rely on the snooze button more frequently, often spending around 20 minutes in snooze mode each morning. Interestingly, those who sleep fewer than five hours tend to snooze less, likely because they need to wake up early and are sleep-deprived due to occupational demands.

Q5: Which countries have the highest and lowest snooze button usage?

A5: According to the study, the U.S., Sweden, and Germany have the highest snooze button use, while Japan and Australia show the lowest usage among populations studied.

Q6: How does snoozing impact sleep stages, especially REM sleep?

A6: Sleep experts warn that snoozing interrupts REM sleep, which occurs in the hours just before waking. This interruption results in less time spent in this critical stage, which is vital for emotional regulation, learning, and memory consolidation.

Q7: What is the recommended way to set your alarm for better sleep health?

A7: Experts suggest setting your alarm for the latest possible time you can wake up naturally and then getting out of bed immediately. This approach helps you maximize your sleep cycles and avoids disrupting REM sleep, leading to better rest and alertness.

Q8: Does snoozing affect morning mood and energy levels?

A8: Yes, frequent snoozing can leave you feeling groggier, tired, and less mentally sharp. Sleep fragmentation from snoozing often leads to a feeling of disorientation, called sleep inertia, which can persist well into the morning.

Q9: Can reducing or eliminating snooze habits improve overall sleep quality?

A9: Absolutely. Avoiding the snooze button helps maintain a consistent sleep cycle, preserves critical sleep stages like REM, and improves morning alertness and mental clarity. Committing to waking at your initial alarm can support better sleep health.

Q10: Are there practical tips to stop snoozing and wake up refreshed?

A10: Yes. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time daily, place your alarm across the room to force yourself out of bed, and establish an energising wake up routine. These strategies help you wake naturally and reduce the temptation to snooze.

References

Robbins, R., Sääf, D., Weaver, M. D., Gradisar, M., Quan, S. F., & Czeisler, C. A. (2025). Snooze alarm use in a global population of smartphone users. Scientific Reports, 19 May 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99563-y

Written By The Better Sleep Clinic

Reviewed By Dan Ford, Sleep Psychologist