Is Snoozing Bad For You And Your Health?
Do you like to hit that snooze button as soon as the alrm goes off in the morning? Well, then you want to take a look at this video and read this article because…
…well, you need to know what you are doing to your brain. Let me give you a little hint, it’s not something positive!
Is Snoozing Bad For You?
So, is snoozing bad for your health?
Many of you know that during the night we sleep in cycles. We have several cycles of 70-95 minutes each during the night. This is nothing new, but what most people don’t know is that we are not always in one of those sleep cycles…
…and here’s where it gets interesting!
You see, about 60-120 minutes before you wake up in the morning your brain is in a “getting ready to wake up mode”. In other words, it is NOT in one of those sleep cycles.
Now, when your alarm goes off and you lose the willpower fight, hit the snooze button and go back to sleep…
What do you think your brain does then?
That’s right! It gets into a new sleep cycle. You just took your brain from “getting ready to wake up mode” and pushed it into a sleep cycle.
Now, remember how long a sleep cycle is?
About 70-95 minutes!
So, your brain is now working on a 70-95 minute long sleep cycle, but the problem is that YOU just hit the snooze button and the alarm will go off in about 10 minutes. 10 minutes, not 70-95 minutes.
The snooze alarm goes off and THIS happens:
Ok, so now the alarm goes off for the second time, 10 minutes later, and now you are interrupting your brain when it is doing its job in a sleep cycle, as as opposed to being in “getting ready to wake up mode”…
…this is not good!
Enter the “sleep inertia”
When the brain gets forced out of a sleep cycle like that it gets “stuck” in a neurological state called “sleep inertia”.
Ok, sounds scary, what is that and how will it affect me?
Fair questions, and let me explain.
Well, it’s probably not that dangerous, short term anyway, however when you start your day and your brain is in this sleep inertia state you will have a much harder time with things like
- Processing information
- Short term memory
- Controlling your emotions
- Learning new stuff
Of course it’s not fun to go around knowing that the brain does not work on an optimal level and the lack of stress control my indeed contribute to long term health consequences, if hitting the snooze button is something that you regularly do.
But It does not end here
Snoozing is bad for your health in another way as well.
Your mental health.
Let me explain.
You see, when you set your alarm to go off the next morning, say 6 AM, of course you do so for a reason, because that’s when you feel it’s best to get up. That is your intention.
Now, what happens on a psychological level, when you hit the snooze button the following day, is that you are breaking your own promise with yourself…
…the VERY first thing you do that day. You START the day by breaking your “own promise”.
A seed is planted into your brain
When you break your own intention like that you plant a seed into your subconscious mind that you can not really trust what you set out to do…
…no, let me rephrase that, it’s even worse, you are planting a seed into your subconscious mind that you are a person that do not get things done.
This is bad because the mind works kind of like a jury. Meaning, every action you take is a vote for the person you believe that you are. And, I mean every action. Every single action you take in your life.
By regularly breaking your own intentions you will more and more build a self image that you are a lazy person who never do what you set out to do and so your trust in yourself drops…
…and your self-esteem drops.
This creates a negative spiral
It gets even worse, because here are some important words for you to memorize:
“The strongest force in the human personality is the need to stay consistent with how we define ourselves”
And you define yourself as a lazy person that don’t do what you set out to do.
This is not good because the self image of you being a lazy person is now imprinted into your subconscious mind, and because the strongest force in the human personality is the need to stay consitent with how we define ourselves, it means your mind will now make you do things that “lazy people do”…
…it will constantly make you do “lazy actions” or no actions at all, because that goes in line with how you define yourself.
Is snoozing bad for your health? Conclusion
So, now you understand that snoozing really impacts your life more than you thought, before you read this article.
I really recommend that you do your best to stop hitting the snooze button as it affects you both on a biological level (the sleep inertia) and psychological level (you start defining you as a lazy person and thus your brain makes you start taking lazy actions)
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and most of us love snoozing so I will undoubtedly stir up some negative emotions with this article, but, if you noticed, I placed it under the “self help” category because…
…well, because cutting it out will for sure be something that helps you when you are walking on your self development journey.
I hope it has been informative and, as always, keep going and stay strong!
-Scandinavian Bob-
P.S. If you found the video informative then please consider subscribing by clicking here –> subscribe to my YouTube channel