Struggling with multiple alarms to wake up? Here’s why experts say it’s happening.

Imagine you need to be up by 7 a.m. to make it to work on time.

You set your first alarm for 6:30 a.m., another for 6:45 a.m., and a third for 6:55 a.m. to dodge the snooze button. Then, you add a final one for 7:05 a.m., just to be safe.

Sound familiar? If your clock app is flooded with alarms, you’re setting yourself up for a groggy start to the day, experts warn.

Pressing the snooze button for those 9-minute naps also has the same effect, says Dr. Brandon Peters, a neurologist and sleep specialist at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle.

“Hitting the snooze button feels good in the moment, but it actually disrupts your sleep and reduces its quality,” said Peters.

In the final stages of sleep, people typically cycle between the fourth and last phase, known as REM sleep. This phase is crucial for memory and creative thought, he explained. Interrupting it can affect cognitive functions.

He advises setting a single alarm to allow for uninterrupted deep sleep until the time you need to wake up.

Here’s how to train your body and mind to rise after the first alarm goes off.

Why is it so hard to get out of bed in the morning?

Certain sleep disorders, like sleep inertia, could be making it hard to wake up to a single alarm. This condition causes a sluggish transition from sleep, leading to accidentally turning off and snoozing alarms, explained Dr. Cathy Goldstein, a sleep medicine specialist at Michigan Medicine Sleep Disorders Centers.

However, in most cases, needing multiple alarms to wake up is a sign of sleep deprivation, according to Goldstein.

Goldstein suggests addressing any underlying issues that may be contributing to the problem first.

“First things first: Are you really getting the sleep you need? Not just the amount you think you should get, but what your body actually requires. And are you getting that consistently?” asked Goldstein, who is also a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night, though it can take time to figure out the exact amount that works for you. Goldstein recommends that students use summer break to experiment with their natural sleep patterns, and for others, a long vacation might offer some valuable insight.

One reason some people struggle with their alarm clock is because they’re naturally night owls, but their job requires them to be an early bird, explained Dr. Alicia Roth, a clinician at Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorders Center in Ohio. “In a perfect world, we would go to bed when we feel tired and wake up when we’re ready, but that’s not the reality we live in.”

However, Roth mentioned that it is possible to gradually shift your body’s internal clock and make waking up early easier.

How to wake up with just one alarm

If you need to wake up at 7 a.m., but your alarm rings at 6 a.m., you’re getting an hour of poor-quality sleep instead of resting soundly until your actual wake-up time, said Roth.

Although using just one alarm is ideal, it can be difficult to adjust to this after relying on multiple alarms as a crutch, Roth added.

Roth suggests experimenting with different types of alarm clocks, such as those that use light or force you to get out of bed to turn them off. Getting 15 to 30 minutes of sunlight in the morning can also help reset your internal clock, especially for natural night owls, added Peters, author of the book *The Sleep Apnea Hypothesis*.

It’s also important to maintain consistent sleep and wake times every day, said Goldstein. “If you sleep soundly from 3 a.m. to noon on weekends but need to wake up at 6 a.m. on Monday for work, that’s going to be tough. Your body isn’t prepared for that early wake-up and it’ll be hard to get out of bed.”

For those looking to adjust their biological clocks, Goldstein recommends shifting your bedtime 30 minutes earlier every few days, or one hour earlier each week. Avoiding bright lights and limiting screen time up to four hours before bed also helps the body naturally produce melatonin, she said.

If you wake up before your alarm, Peters advises against checking the time. Doing so may make it harder to fall back asleep if you start stressing about how much sleep is left or the day ahead.

Instead, Peters suggests trying to fall back asleep for 15 to 20 minutes. If you’re still awake after that, check the time and decide whether you want to start your day early. If it’s still the middle of the night, try reading quietly until you feel sleepy again, then return to bed when you’re drowsy.

While some people may naturally wake up without an alarm, this isn’t a realistic goal for everyone, especially for those dealing with sleep inertia or having a naturally later biological clock, said Goldstein.

“We never want to shame people for how they sleep,” she explained. “In medicine and public health, we often focus on averages, doing what’s best for most people. But there are individual biological differences, and we want to ensure that everyone is optimizing their sleep as much as possible.”