No More Snoozing Shame

The saying goes “you snooze, you lose,” but things may not be that black and white when it comes to waking up in the morning. Recent research found that snoozing your alarm or using intermittent alarms to extend your sleep doesn’t affect sleep quality, and could even carry benefits for some people. The paper from Stockholm University comprised two studies, the first involving 1,732 adults. Nearly 70% of participants reported sometimes snoozing or setting multiple alarms, with a 22-minute average snooze time. The most common reasons for snoozing included being too tired to wake up and wanting to wake up more slowly or softly (many also said it simply “feels good”). The second study surveyed 31 “habitual snoozers,” and found that 30 minutes of snoozing improved or did not affect their performance on cognitive tests when compared to waking up abruptly without snoozing. “The findings indicate that there is no reason to stop snoozing in the morning if you enjoy it, at least not for snooze times around 30 minutes,” co-author Tina Sundelin said in a statement. “In fact, it may even help those with morning drowsiness to be slightly more awake once they get up.”