Daylight Savings is quickly approaching, and you know what that means – our clocks change but not in the direction we might like. In the middle of the night on March 10th, clocks move forward an hour and we lose an hour of sleep. Soon enough this change might make our world feel upside down.
Every year, more and more, I have heavily felt the effects of this day, mainly surrounding the exhaustion and overall lack of productivity. Given the fatigue, I find myself setting my school work aside and replacing it with a bowl of popcorn, How I Met Your Mother, and a big ol’ blanket to curl up in. This can, and should, be avoided; especially at such a busy time of the term.
Here are six tips for adapting and reacting to the impending changes from Daylight Savings.
Practice going to bed early
On the nights leading up to the March 9th, practice going to bed an hour before you want to fall asleep. This will ensure you develop a pattern, so that when you truly do need to fall asleep early on the night of March 9th, you can do so easily, and get those crucial 8 to 10 hours.
Work extra hard the days before March 10th
Using that additional sleep you gained from the tip above, you can use your energy and time accordingly by working especially hard and completing readings and projects due after daylight savings begins. On March 10th, and likely a few days after, it will be hard to stay awake, much less get quality work completed. Use the days before as a buffer for March 10th.
Go to bed early the night of the change
After practicing the nights before, it should be no problem to go to sleep early on March 9th, so that when you wake up on the 10th, the time change won’t be as much of a burden. Going to bed an hour earlier than normal allows you to take back what daylight savings will steal from you.
Make sure to change your clocks
I have spent one too many restless nights during this daylight savings checking my clocks and, with only one eye half open, trying to determine the real time. Simply moving your clock forward one hour right before you fall asleep will ensure limited morning confusion. Make sure to first find out if your clock automatically springs forward, though, so you don’t make yourself lose two hours of sleep.
Avoid napping March 10th
While you may think it is a good idea to take a brief snooze on Sunday while you are exhausted, this will throw off your sleeping schedule and keep you awake late Sunday night. Instead, hold off until bedtime, and go to sleep early Sunday night as well.
Remember summer is just around the corner
This is my favourite tip. That late night daylight means summer is just around the corner. Keep that in mind as you push through March 10th and the rest of the semester.
While these tips work well for me, everyone has a different way to get through daylight savings. Ask your friends and develop the method that works best for you. Revise this method as you move through the stages of your life.
Try out these tips above so you, too, can adapt and react to daylight savings this weekend.