11 things you can do to adjust to losing that hour of sleep when daylight saving time starts

March 11, 2022 5:30 PM

Deepa Burman, Co-Director, Pediatric Sleep Evaluation Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences; Hiren Muzumdar, Director of the Pediatric Sleep Evaluation Center, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

Posted: March 11, 2022 5:30 PM

Updated: March 14, 2022 9:13 AM

As clocks march ahead and daylight saving time begins, there can be anxiety around losing an hour of sleep and how to adjust to this change.

Usually an hour seems like an insignificant amount of time, but even this minimal loss can cause problems. There can be significant health repercussions of this forcible shift in the body clock.

Springing forward is usually harder that falling backward. Why?

The natural internal body clock rhythm in people tends to be slightly longer than 24 hours, which means that every day we tend to delay our sleep schedules. Thus, “springing forward” goes against the body’s natural rhythm. It is similar to a mild case of jet lag caused by traveling east — in which you lose time and have trouble falling asleep at an earlier hour that night.

Even though it’s technically just one hour lost due to the time change, the amount of sleep deprivation due to disrupted sleep rhythm lasts for many days and often throws people off schedule, leading to cumulative sleep loss.

We lead a sleep evaluation center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and regularly see patients who are dealing with sleep loss and internal clocks that are not synchronized with external time. Our experience has shown us that it’s important to prepare, as much as possible, for the time shift that occurs every spring.

Sleep loss from springing forward has been associated with not only sleepiness at work but also an increase in work accidents. fizkes/Shutterstock.com

Consequences of sleep loss vary

Many studies have demonstrated that there is an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure associated with sleep deprivation. Workplace injuries increase and so do automobile accidents. Adolescents often find it harder to wake up in time to get to school and may have difficulties with attention and school performance or worsening of mental health problems.

Is there something to be done to help to deal with this loss of sleep and change of body clock timing?

Of course. The first step is increasing awareness and using the power of knowledge to combat this issue. Here are some quick tips to prepare yourself for the upcoming weekend.

Do not start with a “sleep debt.” Ensure that you and, if you’re a parent, your child get adequate sleep on a regular basis leading up to the time change each year. Most adults need anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep daily to perform adequately. Children have varying requirements for sleep depending on their age.
Prepare for the time change. Going to bed — and for parents, putting your kids to bed — 15 to 20 minutes earlier each night in the week preceding the time change is ideal. Having an earlier wake time can help you get to sleep earlier. Try to wake up an hour earlier than is customary on Saturday, the day before the time change. If you have not been able to make any changes to your sleep schedule in advance, then keep a very consistent wake time on weekdays as well as weekends to adjust to the time change more easily.
Use light to your advantage. Light is the strongest cue for adjusting the internal body clock. Expose yourself to bright light upon waking as you start getting up earlier in the week before daylight saving time. If you live in a place where natural light is limited in the morning after clocks change, use bright artificial light to signal your body clock to wake up earlier. As the season progresses, this will be less of an issue as the sun rises earlier in the day.
At night, minimize exposure to bright light and especially the blue light emitted by the screens of electronic media. This light can shift your body rhythm and signal your internal clock to wake up later the next day. If your devices permit, set their screens to dim and emit less blue light in the evening.
In some geographic locations, it might be helpful to have room-darkening curtains at bedtime depending on how much sunlight your room gets at bedtime. Be sure to open the curtains in the morning to allow the natural morning light to set your sleep-wake cycle.
Carefully plan your day and evening activities. The night before the time change, set yourself up for a good night’s sleep by incorporating relaxing activities that can help you wind down, such as reading a book or meditating.
Incorporate exercise in the morning or early in the day. Take a walk, even if it is just around the house or your office during the day.
Consider starting with a protein-heavy breakfast, since sleep deprivation can increase appetite and craving for high-carbohydrate foods and sugars.
Stop using caffeine after noon. Use of caffeine too late in the day can lead to trouble falling asleep and even disrupted sleep.
Adults, decline that wine at bedtime. Wine and other kinds of alcohol can also disturb sleep.
If you’re a parent or caregiver, try to be patient with your kids as they adjust to the new times. Sleep deprivation affects the entire family, and some kids have a harder time adjusting to the time change than others. You may notice more frequent meltdowns, irritability and loss of attention and focus. Set aside more quiet, electronic media-free time in the evening. Consider a brief 20-minute nap in the early afternoon for younger children who are having a difficult time dealing with this change.

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Prioritizing sleep pays off in the short term and over the years. A good night’s sleep is a necessary ingredient for a productive and fulfilling day all year long.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on March 7, 2019.

Deepa Burman is affiliated with American Board of Internal Medicine as a member of the Sleep Medicine Board Exam Test Question Writing Committee.

Hiren Muzumdar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Dreamstime
Time falls back on Sunday, Nov. 7, for the end of daylight saving time. This tradition was established in the U.S. in 1918, but is it really all it's cracked up to be? Wacky time zones, car accidents and hurting business are just a few of the reasons it might be time to ditch this dated convention. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Dreamstime
About 40 percent of countries around the world use daylight saving time, all so a guy could look for bugs. George Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand, is crediting with coming up with the modern concept of daylight saving time in 1895. He suggested moving clocks so he'd have more after-work daylight hours to hunt for specimens. Seven years later, Englishman William Willett proposed a system of British Summer Time so he could spend more recreation hours riding horses. The idea was eventually implemented in 1916 in Germany, and the concept spread around the world. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Dreamstime
The majority of people mistakenly call the switch "daylight savings time" with an erroneous "s" in "savings." Daylight saving time is actually the right, grammatically correct name. Clearly it's not that important if folks can't even get the name right. (Dreamstime/TNS)
BOB FILA
The myth persists that daylight saving time was created to benefit farmers, despite these people being the system's biggest enemies. Daylight saving time creates more daylight hours in the evening, but those in agriculture want more daylight hours in the morning. The time change also throws off how early farmers can do vital activities such as harvest or milk cows. In fact, farmers pushed Congress to override President Woodrow Wilson's establishment of daylight saving time in the United States in 1918. The practice was implemented sporadically until the Uniform Time Act was passed in 1966. (Bob Fila/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Dreamstime
Germany became the first country in the world to adopt daylight saving time in order to save energy during World War I. Back when coal power was king, DST did indeed save on lighting energy. Nowadays, multiple studies have proven these savings are more or less offset by the air conditioning that people run during an extra hour of daylight in warmer places. In fact, economists calculated that after Indiana moved to statewide daylight saving time in 2006, there was a 1 percent increase in energy use in the state due to air conditioning use in summer evenings and heat use in the cool spring and fall mornings. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Lawson Danny/PA Photos/ABACA
The states of Hawaii and Arizona have opted out of observing daylight saving time. In Arizona, temperatures can be scorching as long as the sun is up, so more cool nighttime hours in the summer save energy and allow people to spend time outside. Hawaii's state legislature opted out of the practice in 1967 because Hawaii's position close to the equator means consistent sunlight throughout the day year round. (Lawson Danny/PA Photos/Abaca Press/TNS)
Dreamstime
Hawaii and other locations closer to the equator have mild weather and get the same amount of sun regardless of daylight saving time. That's why when you look at a map of countries that observe daylight saving time, it's usually the ones further from the equator. For example, most northern countries in South America don't use it. Neither do the northern parts of Australia. While Arizona and Hawaii chose to ignore it, Florida has proposed making it DST year-round there. California is one step closer to getting there. In late 2018, Californians approved a ballot measure to make it DST all year. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Dreamstime
Our bodies' circadian rhythm is regulated by sunlight, and daylight saving time throws off people's sleep schedules. If we know it's evening but still see light outside, our bodies won't release key hormones that help us fall asleep when we regularly do. These disruptions to sleep affect our health in both large and small ways. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Dreamstime
One of the negative side effects of DST sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm changes is that it affects your focus and reaction times. Daylight saving time has been linked to more car accidents and car accident fatalities in the days after the switch. There are also spikes in workplace accidents. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Dreamstime
For school age children, daylight saving time negatively impacts their academic performance. Some studies have shown that kids’ test scores in the week following the time shift are lower than they'd be if they took the test before. One study found that SAT scores in areas without daylight saving time were higher on average than places that did. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Dreamstime
School-age kids aren't the only ones who might not be able to focus. Daylight saving time also affects the workforce, decreasing productivity. A 2012 study found that after the DST transition, employees are more likely to "cyberloaf" -- procrastinate by doing non-work-related things on their computers like surfing social media. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Credit: Dreamstime
Carlos Chavez
Figuring out daylight saving time zones are more complicated than just Hawaii and Arizona. Anyone driving through the Grand Canyon state has to know that while most of Arizona ignores daylight saving time, the Navajo Nation, which covers part of northeastern Arizona, observes it. But inside the Navajo Nation is the Hopi Reservation, which does not. But inside the Hopi Reservation is a small piece of the Navajo Nation, which does. (Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
Dreamstime
On top of being bad for agricultural business, other sectors suffer because of daylight saving time. While retailers enjoy extra hours for people to get out and shop and candy companies love extra time for Halloween trick-or-treating, television and airline companies aren't fans of having more people out and about. People spend more time home watching television when it gets darker earlier. As for airlines, it's a major headache to keep domestic flights lined up with international ones with shifting times. When DST was extended by four weeks in 2005, the Air Transport Association estimated that all the schedule juggling would cost the industry $147 million. (Dreamstime/TNS)
SEBASTIAN KAHNERT
Since President George W. Bush signed a bill extending daylight saving time by four weeks starting in 2007, the U.S. has been on daylight saving time for eight months out the year. That's the majority of the time, while "standard" time is the minority. Why not simply make DST our country's standard time year-round? (Sebastian Kahnert/AFP/Getty Images/TNS) **FOR THIS STORY ONLY**
Dreamstime
So to recap, daylight saving time throws off people's sleep and immune systems, drives certain industries bonkers and doesn't save enough energy to be worth the hassle. Doing away with it or following in Florida's footsteps to make DST time our permanent standard time seem like logical moves. (Dreamstime/TNS)