The best feeling in the world is hitting the snooze button, allowing yourself a few more minutes of rest before you get up and start your day.
You may think it helps to prevent you from waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but that couldn't be farther from the truth.
According to sleep experts, hitting the snooze button over and over again can be detrimental to your overall well-being in the long run.
The Slave To The Snooze Button
Before alarm clocks existed, people simply woke up (or perhaps had someone drag them by the feet).
And before we were required to start our days at a certain time, our bodies naturally woke up when we felt refreshed.
Professor Matthew Walker, who teaches at the University of California's Center for Human Sleep Science, told The Independent the snooze button acts as an "assault" to your heart and nervous system.
"If alarming your heart, quite literally, were not bad enough, using the snooze feature means you will repeatedly inflict that cardiovascular assault again and again within a short span of time," he said.
Walker adds that snoozing makes people more tired, contributing to sleep deprivation, which is linked to health problems like depression, obesity, and Alzheimer's.
Since most of us have to wake up before we realistically want to, we have to find a way to stop hitting that snooze button...
How To Avoid Hitting Snooze
If you simply can't wake up right when your alarm goes off, you might have to find ways to get used to that feeling.
Believe me, you're going to feel extremely tired when you wake up suddenly, but after 10 minutes you'll feel refreshed.
The first thing to train yourself to not rely on your snooze button is to keep your alarm out of arm's reach. This will force you to get up from your bed and shut off your alarm.
Another way to avoid hitting snooze is to put yourself in the right mindset. Give yourself an incentive to wake up, maybe a few minutes to browse through your phone or the thought of a fresh cup of coffee.
Also, when your room is bright and warm, your body is less likely to press snooze.
During the winters, set the temperature to get higher an hour or two before you wake up.
Most of us have been duped into thinking that the snooze button will make us less tired. Here are three other common things that contribute to sleep deprivation:
Other Things You Should Avoid
1. Power Naps
Walker suggests that power naps may momentarily give you a burst of energy, but it can impact your emotional stability in the long run.
2. Using electronic devices
It's tempting to browse the web before you get shut eye, but it's not worth it if it prevents you from getting a good night's rest.
Bright lights affects our melatonin levels, which is a hormone responsible for helping you fall asleep at night.
3. Eating fatty foods
Fatty foods are not easy for your body to digest late at night, which is why you may have trouble sleeping after a big meal.
Share this with someone who loves hitting the snooze button!
Did you know that certain plants can help you get better night's sleep? Click here to read more!
[H/T: The Independent/ Sleep Junkies]