#62 - The Snooze Button

The Matt Walker Podcast

Matt's back, and this time he's tackling the perennial debate: Is the snooze button a friend or foe when it comes to your sleep and overall health? He shines a spotlight on an intriguing study led by Dr. Tina Sundelin and her team - one that challenges our conventional wisdom about snooze buttons. Surprisingly, their research reveals that snooze button usage is quite common, especially among night owls and younger folks. What's even more unexpected is that snoozing may not have the detrimental impact on mood, cognitive performance, or cortisol levels that we once thought. However, there's a catch: snooze users end up with about 20% less sleep in the last half-hour of their sleep cycle.

While Matt acknowledges these thought-provoking findings, he remains cautious and stresses the importance of cherishing natural, uninterrupted sleep patterns. He suggests that more extensive, long-term research may be needed to fully understand the potential consequences of snooze button habits on our well-being. Along the way, Matt sprinkles in fascinating tidbits about the history of alarm clocks and shares some unconventional alarm clock designs that add humor and curiosity to the conversation. Whether you're a die-hard snooze button fan or someone on a quest to enhance your morning routine, this episode serves up valuable insights into the science of sleep and waking up.

Please note that Matt is not a medical doctor, and none of the content in this podcast should be considered medical advice in any way, shape, or form, nor prescriptive in any way.

The good people at InsideTracker are one of the sponsors of this week's episode, and they are generously offering a special 25% off any one of their programs for anyone who uses the above link during the time window of this episode. InsideTracker is a personalized biometric platform that analyzes your blood and your DNA to better understand what's happening inside of you and offers suggestions regarding things that you can do to better try and adjust some of those numbers, optimize them, and, as a result, optimize you.

Also sponsoring this week are those fine people at Athletic Greens, and they are generously offering 3 benefits for anyone who uses the above link for their first order: 1) a discount on your order; 2) a one-year free supply of vitamin D; 3) five free travel packs. Athletic Greens is a nutrition drink that combines a full complement of antioxidants, minerals, and biotics, together with essential vitamins. Matt’s been using it for several years now because he’s serious about his health, and because he did his research on the science and ingredients in Athletic Greens and thinks its scientific data can be taken as ground truth.

As always, if you have thoughts or feedback you’d like to share, please reach out to Matt on Instagram.