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5 Ways to Cope with the Time Change

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Posted on March 8, 2019

Casandra Andrews

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Most people in the United States will lose an hour of sleep as clocks are moved ahead for the beginning of daylight saving time.

While many enjoy the perks of an extra hour of sunlight, successfully transitioning your sleep pattern typically can take up to a week, said sleep specialist Dr. William A. Broughton, a professor of internal medicine at USA Health College of Medicine who is board certified in critical care medicine, pulmonary disease and sleep medicine.

鈥淵our intrinsic circadian rhythm is set for a time of sleep onset based on light,鈥� Broughton said. 鈥淚t turns out the blue light that comes from daylight (and our various screens) tells you it's daytime. When it declines (as the sun sets) that鈥檚 the signal to our brain that it鈥檚 time to get ready for sleep." 

The beginning of daylight saving time suddenly disrupts the sleep/wake pattern.

Broughton offers these tips on transitioning to a new schedule:

• Consider adopting the new sleep/wake schedule on Friday night. That would give you two days to get used to the new schedule and perhaps make you feel less fatigued on Monday.
• Don鈥檛 pop pills. 鈥淪edatives don鈥檛 help,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don't recommend people take medication for the one-hour change." This includes supplements such as melatonin.
• Don鈥檛 sleep in on Sunday. 鈥淕et up at the time you would normally go to work on Monday and expose yourself to sunlight," said Broughton. 鈥淚f you awaken like it is a work day on Sunday, you will be a day ahead in making the adaptation.鈥�
• Try not to nap to compensate for sleep loss. That will just slow down your transition.
• Give yourself some time. 鈥淵ou are going to be an hour sleep deprived until your circadian rhythm adjusts,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen you will get back into a normal pattern of sleeping and waking. You can change the clock in a few seconds, but you can't change the clock in your head overnight. It takes about a week to get your brain trained again.鈥�

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