Adjusting to Daylight Saving Time

 

In January, your new year’s resolution was to get better sleep. You got a new sleeptracker and maybe even a weighted blanket. You got the kids to bed earlier andavoided watching endless YouTube videos afterwards. You began to enjoy the extrasleep time you created, feeling more energetic and in a better mood during the day. Because you noticed the benefits of attention to your sleep, you felt confident that 2022 would indeed be the year of good sleep. Then March rolls around. More specifically, at 2:00am on March 13th, 2022, we start the annual ritual of moving ourclocks forward one hour, as we switch to Daylight Saving Time.

Losing one hour seems innocent enough. What difference could that really make? Plus,the time change “event” occurs in the middle of the night, so unlike the Times Square ball drop at New Year’s, it mostly passes without our awareness. But afterwards it’s apparent: the fatigue, difficulty concentrating at work, and noticing you’re annoyed atthe smallest things. You may feel like you’ve just hit a roadblock in your efforts to sleep well.

Scientists understand what you’re feeling. In fact, they’ve concluded that the move into Daylight Saving Time causes significant risks to public health and safety. The timechange is more than just a change in time, it is a disruption to the internal clock that isyour biological rhythm. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) wrote a paper in 2020 calling for the end of Daylight Saving Time altogether. The AASM recommends that permanent Standard Time (the time we are in from November to March) is more natural for this internal biological rhythm. In their paper, they document the negative consequences of this time change, which include increases in:

If the health consequences aren’t convincing enough, the paper notes that one study found volatility in US stock markets on the Monday after the spring transition, perhaps caused by sleep deprivation affecting judgment and decision making. 

So, after learning that the time change is not so innocent, especially as it relates to your good sleep goals, what can you do? You could participate in advocacy. Because this change requires legislation, you can contact your lawmakers and voice your concern. As you do this, don’t forget that sleep professionals recommend not just an end to the time change, but an end to Daylight Saving Time, which would put us all into a healthier biological rhythm permanently. 

You can also consider the following recommendations from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine: 

Please note, if you are one of the many people with chronic sleep problems, then following these steps may be easier said than done. In fact, adjusting to the timechange can be more difficult and take longer for those with sleep problems. If that’s the case for you, it may be time to talk with your doctor about your sleep. 

The time change can pass by before you know it, so if you follow us on Twitter, we cansend out gentle reminders that the time change is coming. After all, 2022 can be the year when the time change doesn’t blindside or derail you. There’s still plenty of time to make 2022 a year of good sleep!​ 

Authors:  SBSM Outreach and Public Education Committee