2 tips to feel well-rested during Daylight Saving Time, starting March 10
Ohio residents will soon “spring forward” and again move their clocks ahead one hour as daylight saving time begins March 10.
Dr. Abhinav Singh, director of the Indiana Sleep Center, said this shift impacts the body’s circadian rhythm.
He said we lose about 40 minutes of sleep altogether after Daylight Saving Time, and that the “spring forward” is a harder adjustment than “falling back.”
“Fall Back is generally easier as we are allotted an extra hour as the clocks move back to standard time,” the author of ‘Sleep to Heal’ said. “Standard time is when the sun is at its highest at the noon hour. It’s aligned with nature and our circadian rhythm, which listens to the sun. The harder one is the spring forward, where we sleep less.”
Daylight Saving Time can affect how long someone’s able to stay asleep and the quality of that night’s sleep.
Dr. Singh shared his top pieces of advice for adapting routines before bed to align with the earlier hour and how it changes mental well-being.
Bank your sleep and plan ahead
“Daylight Saving Time results in an acute loss of about 40 minutes of average sleep lost. This is due to the abrupt shifting of time by one hour in spring, [which] results in more sleep lost in an already sleep deprived society,” said Dr. Singh.
According to Dr. Singh, it’s recommended that you start going to bed earlier by 15-30 minutes each day, “starting seven days prior to change.”
He also recommends you start having dinner 15 minutes earlier each a day to give you more time to get settled for bed.
Listen to body’s cues
During Daylight Saving Time, it’s bright in the evening and dark in the morning, which Dr. Singh said is “not healthy for sleep-wake health.”
“We are sleep deprived and driving in the dark that Monday,” he said. “Dark mornings can lead to accidents, school kids waking up and waiting for the bus in the dark for longer. What we should do is continue to listen to our body cues and sleep when we are naturally sleepy.”
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