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Your sleep schedule, your morning routine, and the way you wake up set the tone for the whole day. Your circadian rhythm, also known as your body’s internal clock, is responsible for the quality and amount of sleep you get. It is also extremely sensitive to changes in routine or rest upon waking. That’s why the most unhealthy thing you can do, in the long run, is to press the snooze button on your alarm clock in the morning – this can negatively impact your circadian rhythm and disrupt your entire day.
“An irregular circadian rhythm can have a negative effect on a person’s ability to sleep and function properly,” according to Harvard Health.
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You repeat, you lose
“No matter how hard you sleep on any given night, you should always get up at the same time every morning,” said Deirdre McSwiney, sleep technician and behavioral therapist for insomnia. The hard shoulder. “This business of lying or having the luxury of hitting the snooze button – which I think was the worst invention ever – is not good for you.
Most alarm clocks or smartphones have a default snooze time of nine minutes. It’s unclear why the early alarm clock makers chose it as the perfect repeat increment, but it has remained the norm to this day. Losing an additional nine minutes in repetition might not seem harmless, but it can take a toll on the quality of your sleep.
To wake up effectively and “on the right side of the bed,” you need to get up at the end of your REM cycle, according to Amerisleep. REM stands for rapid eye movement and this is what happens when you sleep soundly. Your body is recovering but your brain is actively awake, so it’s important to not wake up until the end of the cycle to feel sufficiently rested.
When you press the snooze button, you give yourself about nine minutes to fall back into a REM cycle. “One of the most critical factors is the sleep phase before waking up,” according to a study published in Sleep Medicine Reviews. When your snooze alarm goes off, you may be right in the middle of this REM cycle. This means that you will not get sound or restful sleep during your nap period.
This is what the doctor says
To make sure you wake up at a good time in your REM cycle, say goodbye to your snooze button. “Dealing with the morning light is what triggers deep in the brain that your sleep-wake cycle rotates properly,” says McSwiney. If getting out of bed when the alarm sounds seems impossible, it’s time to reassess your sleep patterns.
If you rely heavily on a few repetitions each morning, it could mean that you are suffering from a sleep disorder or that you are just not getting enough good quality sleep. “Make sure you’re getting seven to eight hours of adequate sleep and good quality sleep,” says Dr. Reena Mehra, MD, MS of the Cleveland Clinic.
“Much of the latter part of our sleep cycle is REM sleep, or dream sleep, which is a state of restful sleep,” says Dr. Mehra. “And so if you hit the snooze button, you interrupt that REM sleep.”
If you know you are getting seven to eight hours of good sleep but are still addicted to the snooze button, Dr Mehra suggests seeing a doctor to assess your health. You may have an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be treated.
Devote the time and discipline to avoid repetition and eventually you will get out of bed when the alarm goes off. While it’s a hard habit to break, once you stop relying on that extra nine minutes, you can feel more rested and in a better mood after you wake up. Getting seven to eight hours of sleep a night also boosts your immune system – and to get through this pandemic in your best health, don’t miss these 37 places where you’re most likely to catch the coronavirus.
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