Current:Home > Contact-usThese 6 tips can help you skip the daylight saving time hangover-LoTradeCoin
These 6 tips can help you skip the daylight saving time hangover
View Date:2024-12-24 00:43:02
As clocks march ahead and daylight saving time begins this weekend, you may be anxious about losing an hour of sleep and how to adjust to this change.
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.
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.
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 whose internal clocks 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.
Here are some quick tips to prepare yourself for the time shift.
Don't start with a "sleep debt"
Ensure that you and, if you're a parent, your child get adequate sleep regularly, especially 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.
Earlier to bed — and to rise
Going to bed — and for parents, putting your kids to bed — 15 to 20 minutes earlier each night in the week before 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 aren't able to make 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 starts. This resets your internal clock in the right direction. 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 exposure late in the day can be enough to 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 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.
Pay more attention to what you eat and drink this week
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. Consuming coffee, tea, cola, chocolate or other sources of caffeine too late in the day can lead to trouble falling asleep and even disrupt sleep.
Adults, decline that wine at bedtime. Wine and other kinds of alcohol can also disturb sleep.
Be especially gentle with yourself and the kids
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 minutes or so — nap in the early afternoon for younger children who are having a difficult time dealing with this change. 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.
Deepa Burman is codirector of the Pediatric Sleep Evaluation Center and an associate professor of pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh. Hiren Muzumdar directs the Pediatric Sleep Evaluation Center at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh.
This is an updated and slightly shorter version of an article originally published in The Conversation in 2019.
veryGood! (41179)
Related
- Sting Says Sean Diddy Combs Allegations Don't Taint His Song
- Video: Access to Nature and Outdoor Recreation are Critical, Underappreciated Environmental Justice Issues
- Kelly Ripa Details the Lengths She and Mark Consuelos Go to For Alone Time
- 2022 marked the end of cheap mortgages and now the housing market has turned icy cold
- Georgia remains part of College Football Playoff bracket projection despite loss
- Why Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history
- Warmer Temperatures May Offer California Farmers a Rare Silver Lining: Fewer Frosts
- Florida parents arrested in death of 18-month-old left in car overnight after Fourth of July party
- Taylor Swift's Dad Scott Swift Photobombs Couples Pic With Travis Kelce
- Could New York’s Youth Finally Convince the State to Divest Its Pension of Fossil Fuels?
Ranking
- Glen Powell responds to rumor that he could replace Tom Cruise in 'Mission: Impossible'
- The northern lights could be visible in several states this week. Here's where you might see them.
- North Korea has hacked $1.2 billion in crypto and other assets for its economy
- Gigi Hadid Shares Rare Glimpse of Her and Zayn Malik's Daughter Khai
- Shawn Mendes quest for self-discovery is a quiet triumph: Best songs on 'Shawn' album
- Kelly Ripa Details the Lengths She and Mark Consuelos Go to For Alone Time
- The blizzard is just one reason behind the operational meltdown at Southwest Airlines
- Fortnite maker Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle privacy and deception cases
Recommendation
-
Subway rider who helped restrain man in NYC chokehold death says he wanted ex-Marine to ‘let go’
-
Twitter suspends several journalists who shared information about Musk's jet
-
Ariana Madix Shares NSFW Sex Confession Amid Tom Sandoval Affair in Vanderpump Rules Bonus Scene
-
Government Delays First Big U.S. Offshore Wind Farm. Is a Double Standard at Play?
-
A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
-
Chris Pratt Mourns Deaths of Gentlemen Everwood Co-Stars John Beasley and Treat Williams
-
Louisville’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ Demonstrations Continue a Long Quest for Environmental Justice
-
Britain is seeing a wave of strikes as nurses, postal workers and others walk out