How to Survive Daylight Saving Time: Start Early (2026)
Summer time is coming, and it’s my least favorite version of the dreaded time change.
Losing an hour ruins the sleep of everyone in my house. It was one thing when it was just a couple of irritated adults, but now we have a 3 year old who doesn’t understand what daylight saving time is or why he should go to bed earlier than the night before. Sure, we’ll all love brighter evenings, but why did they have to disappear in the first place?
The best method to survive this madness is to start early. The scientists and brands I spoke with all gave me the same advice: Start a few days earlier by setting your alarm 15 to 20 minutes earlier to make the time change a transition rather than a harsh waste of an hour on Sunday morning.
For my child and I, it’s not just the alarm sound that I’m going to change but also our bedside alarm clocks at sunrise. Light is one of the most important elements that can impact your circadian rhythm, and a loud alarm was never enough for me anyway. Here’s how a little extra light in the morning could hopefully make the transition easier for my family.
Start early
Waiting to deal with the time change is a recipe for serious discomfort. “Our bodies can’t move for an entire hour in a day,” says Emily Manoogian, a scientist at the Salk Institute. “So if you can spread it out over two to three days, that makes it a lot easier. It’s like shifting your food, light and sleep times 20 to 30 minutes in advance for a few days before the daylight saving time change.”
Manoogian says that light and food synchronize your body clock, so they’re good signals for change to help your body naturally adapt to the upcoming time change. She says animal studies show that changing breakfast and dinner times in sync with the time change can help you adapt much more quickly and return to normal life.
It will take you a little longer to set your alarm each morning, but it’s better to do a little more work now rather than feeling groggy and disoriented next week. Manoogian says acute circadian disruptions, such as daylight saving time, can lead to several health problems, including insulin resistance, gut problems, anxiety, depression and increased risky behaviors.
Just add light
Manoogian isn’t the only one to suggest starting earlier. Hatch and Lumie, makers of sunrise alarm clocks, gave me the same advice: change your alarms a little earlier, over a few days. They both also recommend using light to your advantage.
“Light is one of the strongest signals for resetting your internal clock, which is why exposure to morning light is especially helpful after daylight saving time changes,” says a Hatch rep.
Although Lumie and Hatch both make excellent sunrise alarm clocks, they work differently. Hatch’s Restore 3 ($170) connects to Wi-Fi, so it can automatically update the time without you needing to change anything once DST passes. You’ll also be able to easily set your alarm time in the Hatch app, allowing you to make quick adjustments while you’re within Bluetooth range of your restaurant. The brand also introduced a Daylight Savings Time Assistant for use with kids’ devices like the Hatch Baby ($100), which can automatically change a child’s schedule in small increments over several days.
Lumie, on the other hand, doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi or an app, so you have to manually change your alarms and clock time. You will need to change this yourself each night before the time change, then change the time completely on Saturday evening and return your alarm to its original time. Although it requires more work, Lumie alarm clocks like the Bodyclock Luxe 700FM ($259) and Bodyclock Shine 300 ($169) are brighter than the Hatch, so it’s still a good investment.
Models worth snagging
Looking for a new sunrise alarm before Sunday? Here are the ones to get.
