Feeling the Effects of the Time Change? We Asked Experts How to Get Back on Track
Clock changes can I’m throwing you for a loop. Even a one-hour shift, as happened Sunday across most of the United States, can leave you groggy and out of sync for days. This is because your body’s internal clock (your circadian rhythm) depends on daylight, meal times and a regular routine. When the biannual country time change arrives, it disrupts this rhythm and lets your body catch up.
The good news is that with a few simple habits, you can help your body bounce back quickly and naturally reset your sleep schedule after a time change. Follow these tips to get back into the swing of things and start feeling like yourself once the clocks tick.
What is daylight saving time?
In the United States, most of the country switches from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time (DST) in November and March. Standard time is the “normal” time used in fall and winter, while daylight saving time is the one-hour shift in spring and summer that changes daylight from morning to evening.
Every year, the clocks move forward an hour in March and we lose an hour of sleep. The clocks then go back in November, setting us back that time. The idea is to maximize daylight hours for work and play during the warmer months.
Daylight saving time began during World War I in order to save energy. More daylight in the evening meant less need for artificial lighting, which was then scarce. It was also thought that it would help farmers by providing more natural light in the evening. However, because farm work follows the sun and not the clock, this only made their schedules more complicated.
More than a century later, most Americans still follow the same ritual. Exceptions include Hawaii and most of Arizona, where daylight and desert heat make jet lag more of a hassle than helpful.
Why time changes disrupt your body clock
We tend to focus on how much we sleep, but consistency is just as important, says Rebecca Robbins, a sleep researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “Consistency in sleep schedule is just as important as sleep duration, if not more,” she says. “A change of an hour can be enough to disrupt our internal circuits.”
Your circadian rhythm relies on cues like lights, meals, and routine. Light is extremely important here because it suppresses melatonin, the hormone that tells your brain it’s time to bed. When the daylight changes, so do your hormones.
This rhythm drives much more than fatigue. It regulates digestion, alertness, mood and even immune response. When you move forward, you are essentially forcing your body’s clock out of sync with your environment. Falling back is smoother because the extra hour of sleep and morning light usually help your rhythm adjust more easily.
Health Costs Related to Sleep Loss
The impact of time differences can become apparent almost immediately. “Car accidents, heart attacks, cardiovascular after-effects, mood disorders – all of these factors tend to remain elevated throughout DST,” says neurologist and sleep specialist W. Chris Winter of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine. A University of Colorado study found that fatal car crashes in the United States increased by about 6% in the week following the change to daylight saving time in the spring.
Most Americans already suffer from a sleep deficit. “Only 30 percent of Americans report consistently satisfying their biological need for sleep,” Robbins says. A lost hour aggravates this debt.
