3 Ways to Reset Your Body's Internal Clock After Daylight Saving Time

The time has come for us all to lose an hour of sleep, as daylight saving time begins on March 8. If you recall how you felt when this occurred last year, then you're likely not looking forward to "springing forward" an hour, even if there's more daylight in the evening after work.

To make the start of daylight saving time less of a drag, there are several steps you can take to reset your body's internal clock so that the time change doesn't hit you like a ton of bricks.

How to reset your body's internal clock 

To promote healthy sleep hygiene and prevent the ramifications of losing sleep after daylight saving time, consider the following tips.

1. Don't adjust your wake-up time straight after the time changes

After a few days to a week, your body will acclimate to the new time. Instead, consider taking a short 20-minute nap in the afternoons to boost your energy. Long naps, however, may leave you feeling drowsier. 

Or, about a week before the time change, consider going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night to help your body adjust. This can naturally get your body to adapt and wake up earlier.

2. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and unhealthy meals before bed

These substances disrupt sleep, keeping you from getting the quality seven to nine hours of sleep you need to maintain physical and mental health. Try avoiding alcohol and caffeine at least 4 hours before bedtime, and consider healthier alternatives when you eat dinner at night.

3. Enjoy morning sunlight

If you're an early riser, go outside early in the morning to get some light. Light helps you stay more alert during the day and reduces your body's production of melatonin, which causes drowsiness. You can also consider a sunrise alarm clock. It omits natural light in your bedroom to gently wake you up in the morning, like the sun's light would. 

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How daylight saving time affects your body

Your circadian rhythm is your body's internal clock, which follows a 24-hour cycle. It plays an important role in dictating your sleep-wake cycle and is heavily influenced by cues from light and darkness. When daylight saving time kicks in, it can delay your circadian rhythm, making you feel sleepier in the morning while it's still dark and more energetic in the evening as the sun stays up later. 

If you've ever traveled to a region with a different time zone than you're used to, you've likely experienced a similar disruption in your circadian rhythm with what we call jet lag. For instance, if you travel from New York to California, where there's a three-hour time difference, 9 p.m. feels like midnight to your body, and you're much drowsier than usual.

At first glance, a small change in your routine may not seem drastic. However, studies have shown that DST disruptions can affect your sleep hygiene and overall health if you aren't mindful. 

The consequences of daylight saving time

The average person will sleep around 40 minutes less on the Monday following the start of DST, according to one study. Aside from feeling drowsy, experts have also cited (in more serious cases) an increase in workplace accidents, heart attacks, mood swings and even car crashes after switching from standard time (November to March) to daylight saving time. Poor sleep quality and changes in our sleep-wake cycle seem to be driving factors in these events, and this is a major argument for experts pushing for the abolition of DST.

The proposed benefits of daylight saving

On the flip side of the coin, research has also shown the benefits of observing DST. While car crash fatalities seem to increase the day after switching from standard time to DST, they may decrease in the long term, possibly in part because of longer daylight hours. There also seems to be a decline in crime for this reason, since crimes are less likely to occur during daylight hours. 

In addition to direct human health effects, DST also reduces energy consumption. One 2008 study by the Department of Energy found that an additional 4 weeks of daylight saving time saved 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, the equivalent of the energy used by 100,000 households in a year. 

As experts continue to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of daylight saving time and whether we should observe it, there are steps you can take in the meantime to mitigate its negative side effects.