On Sunday November 3, Daylight Saving Time ends in North America. This means that the clock is moved an hour back, making the track between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. twice. In theory, we get one hour extra that night, and hence, the popular view is that people can sleep an hour longer. In practice, parents of young children and people with a regular sleep schedule know this is a myth. There is plenty of research that shows not everyone benefits from the time change in the Fall. Changing the clock by one hour has an impact on our sleep and work habits. Here are three important factors to consider when you prepare for, or recover from, the time change.
Night Owls versus Early Birds
The perils of changing the clock, including sleep deprivation and increased workplace injuries, are most apparent when we move into Daylight Saving Time in the Spring. Even so, a review of 16 studies conducted in 2013 reports that the end of Daylight Saving Time disrupts sleep as well. Dr. Harrison, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, concludes that people wake up earlier, and wake up more often through the night after the clock is moved back. The cumulative effects over at least five days or more result in a net sleep loss that is not insignificant.
The shortage of sleep is most likely felt by early risers, and not so much by night owls. People have different chronotypes – evening types have a natural tendency to sleep later and wake later, whereas morning types have an early bedtime and early wake time. Moving the clock back fits with an evening person’s schedule as going to bed later is in line with their biorhythm, and they also welcome sleeping in. Morning people, however, wake up at the same biological time – someone who typically wakes up at 7 a.m. wakes up at 6 a.m. after the time change in the Fall. If you do not adjust your bedtime accordingly, this results in a loss of sleep rather than a gain.
The strategy to beat the upcoming time change thus depends on your chronotype. If you are a night owl, chances are that you won’t give the time change too much thought. Going to bed later and getting up later, is in sync with your body’s preferred rhythm. If you are an early bird, however, getting an extra hour for sleep in the morning is less helpful. You are likely going to be awake early. To make the most of this extra hour, use it to get a head start on work, for exercise, or for any activity that makes you happy. Of course, using this extra time in the morning only works if you go to bed on time.
Kids Do Not Read (Social) Clocks
Another decisive factor for your sleep is what your housemates do. If you have children, they don’t care about the artificial time change that Benjamin Franklin came up with in 1784. Their bodies tell them it is time to wake up at the same biological time before and after the time change, regardless of what hour the clock says it is. Sleeping in is thus a pipe-dream if your toddler is ready to play at 5:30 am.
To ease the transition for toddlers, pediatricians advise adjusting their bedtime by 15 minute increments. Starting on Friday before the time change can be helpful. Remember that before Sunday, you will want to put your child to bed 15 minutes later than usual (e.g., 7:15 p.m. if bedtime is at 7 p.m.). After the time change, you will want to put them to bed earlier than usual (e.g., 6:30 p.m.) on the first few days, and gradually move bedtime back to 7 p.m. over five days.
Your Body is Ahead of your Work Schedule
Changing the clock by one hour also has an impact on your workweek. When Daylight Saving Time ends, your body is still an hour ahead of your social calendar for about a week. This means that your peak focus hours are earlier than you think. For instance, if you are usually most alert between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., this golden hour now starts already at 9 a.m. This is good to know when planning focus time, meetings, or coffee chats.
You are also likely to feel hungry well before lunchtime in the week after the Fall time change. At 12 p.m., your body thinks it is 1 p.m. Because feelings of hunger can increase irritability, it might be helpful to bring an extra snack on the first few days after daylight savings ends. Similarly, getting to the end of the workday might be more challenging when you wake up early. Focus and attention level typically decline over the course of the day, but if you started your day an hour early, you feel more tired in the last hour of work.
It takes about five to seven days for most people to adjust to the new time schedule. Keep this in mind when you are planning bedtimes and scheduling your workweek. While night owls are likely in their element quickly, early birds might need to be more vigilant with going to bed on time to get the most out of the extra hour in the morning.