My take on the snooze button.
I find it odd that people hit the snooze button when their alarms go off. What I find amusing is that, if you analyze its use, it's unbeneficial in many aspects.
One problem with the snooze button is that you lose more sleep because of it. When you sleep, provided you don't suffer from insomnia, you usually go into a stage of sleep called REM (Rapid Eye Movement). This stage is basically the most beneficial stage of sleep you wish to reach when you sleep. It's the stage where you dream, a time where your brain can basically 'defrags'.
There are 5 stages to sleep, the fifth stage being REM. As we progress from stage 1-4, we gradually fall deeper and deeper into sleep before finally reaching the REM stage. That's basically how we sleep. To all you nitpickers out there I'm aware that, before we reach REM, we gradually fall out of sleep before falling back into sleep to reach REM, but I'm trying to keep things more simple. The end result is basically the same, that we progress through the first four stages of sleep and eventually arrive upon REM.
We usually reach REM a few times during our sleep period, the first REM typically lasting around 10 minutes, with each REM stage lengthening, and the final one lasting about an hour. There's no need to worry too much about this detail. I just want people to know that I at least know something about what I'm talking about.
Anyway, because of our sleep stages, that's one of the reasons why we hate alarm close so much, because we are usually startled awake from deep sleep or from a dream. The alarm usually wakes us up from REM or stages 3-4 of our sleep. It's unfortunate that many people have to rely on an alarm clock because their body has trouble waking up at a natural time when they're expected to wake up. I'm pretty sure that only through routine, and that's still pushing it, do people develop the ability to wake up at the expected time they need to wake up without the need of an alarm clock.
From my point of view, constantly hitting the snooze button is rather unhealthy. When you hit your snooze button, the alarm won't go back off for another 9 minutes. Usually, the person will hit the snooze button an additional few more times before guilt finally takes hold of them and they get out of bed and proceed to get ready for their day. Let's pretend a person hits the snooze buttons 3 times before they finally wake up and get out of bed for their day. That's basically 27 minutes from the when the first alarm went off.
There are many problems with the snooze button. For instance, 9 minutes is NOT enough time to fall back asleep to get that little extra bit of needed sleep you so desperately want. Stage 1 itself usually lasts 5-10 minutes before you fall deeper into sleep and reach stage 2 of sleep. Should you reach stage 2 of sleep, you're once again jostled back awake by the alarm. You're only fooling yourself to think you'll actually get more sleep if you hit the snooze button. You're basically no different than the people that drink Brandy when you're shivering from cold because it makes you feel warmer even though it actually drops your core body temperature further. You're only fooling yourself.
My recommendation is to not hit the snooze button at all. Instead, set the alarm to the exact time you want to be up and out of bed. Why? Because NOT hitting the snooze button allows you to sleep more. This is because, either way, you're going to get woken up out of deep sleep. Why not have it where you can have an additional 27 minutes of REM or Stage 4 sleep? It's MUCH MUCH MUCH more beneficial getting 27 extra minutes of REM/Stage 4 sleep than 27 extra minutes of Stage 1 sleep. Stage 1 sleep is akin to how a person feels when they're nodding off during a lecture in college. That 27 extra minutes can mean a HUGE difference.
Most people will use 'state of mind' as an argument against what I suggest, believing it's the stage of mind of knowing they have extra time to nap that would make them feel like their snooze time is more useful. Feel free to continue using the snooze alarm then. Afterall, there's no way I can argue against someone's state of mind. It'll be like me trying to convince someone that's drunk that they shouldn't drink, but in their state of mind, they believe they're capable of driving.
Okay, some people will not hit the snooze button to get that little bit of extra sleep before having to wake up. They are the people that hit the snooze button as a way of gradually waking themselves up. Well, if you have problems waking up, why not take a shower? Why not set your alarm to wake you up about 10 minutes earlier so you can take a shower to wake yourself up? Either that or learn to shave and/or brush your teeth in the shower to save yourself some extra time? It's a perfect way of utilizing your time. To me, NOT shaving and/or brushing your teeth in the shower is like NOT doing some reading while taking a shit. It makes me feel like I'm wasting valuable time. Also, because you're being woken up an extra 27 minutes earlier due to your snooze button issues, it's probably harder for you to wake up anyway simply because that extra 27 minutes could've helped you greatly in getting more rested, thus making the actual process of waking up a lot less painful. Afterall, you have trouble waking up because you're still tired. That extra time spent sleeping can go a long way in helping you feel more rested so that you can wake yourself up and get outta bed more easily.
I guess I might seem harsh on all those people that use the snooze button to gradually wake themselves up. I think it's because I think 'gradually waking yourself up' is a big waste of time. To me, a quick shower wakes me right up. It takes a little more than five minutes. I would much rather spend around five minutes showering, where I can save time brushing my teeth and shaving, than spend 27 minutes slowly waking myself up and adding even more time to brush my teeth and shave. Afterall, most people probably took a shower at night to save themselves the extra time of having to take a shower in the morning and a shower at night relaxes you for sleep as well as makes you clean so you don't end up sleeping in your own filth when in your bed.
Pictures this: Imagine you NEED to be out of your house at 8am SHARP. If you're a snooze button abuser, you probably have the alarm go off at around 6am. That way, you'll be out of bed by 6:30. You'll wander around your house for probably until around 7am before you are now fully awake and ready to commit yourself to your morning routine. By 7:30, you'll have dressed yourself, shaven, and brushed your teeth, leaving yourself 30 minutes to make a quick breakfast before heading out the door. If you take a shower in the morning and don't abuse the snooze button and get out of bed the moment the alarm goes off, you can probably sleep until around 7:15. That's a FULL 1hr and 15minutes of extra sleep! Think about it, if you brush your teeth and shave while taking a shower, you'llve woken yourself out of your sleepy stupor and be ready to get dressed the moment you step out of the bathroom. It shouldn't take you more than five or so minutes to do so. 15 minutes should be a good amount of time to shower, brush your teeth, shave, and get dressed. By then, it'll be 7:30 so you can get yourself a quick breakfast and be out the door.
If you're like me and brush your teeth after every meal, tack on an extra 3 minutes for the post-breakfast brush to the snoozer and non-snoozer scenarios.
Anyway, feel free to continue hitting the snooze button. I'm not one to judge you because of your sleeping habits, but I just wanted to point out to you how a snooze button is anything but beneficial, at least from my point of view. I believe the snooze button makes you lose valuable time that can be spent sleeping. It should be obvious that getting more sleep than less is more healthy to you.
Anyway, that's my take on the snooze button.