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According to the Library of Congress, Americans first experienced daylight saving time in 1918. While returning to standard time on the first Sunday in November allows you to sleep in an hour, the springtime transition to daylight saving time can hurt your sleep health.
“Going back to daylight saving time is always challenging,” says Dr. Ana Krieger, professor of clinical medicine and medical director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “You lose an hour of sleep, and that can be hard to regain if you’re already busy in the evenings.”
Until the government approves a year-round time, such as permanent daylight saving time, here’s what you should know for better sleep.
Your body runs on circadian rhythm, an internal 24-hour clock that affects your mental, physical and emotional health. Along with light exposure, food and stress, sleep loss can affect your circadian rhythm. Unfortunately, that happens every time daylight saving time starts or ends.
“There’s never an upside to gaining or losing an hour of sleep,” Dr. Krieger says. “It always messes with your body’s internal clock.”
This disruption to your sleep-wake cycle does more than goof up your sleep schedule. It also puts you in harm’s way. The American Heart Association notes that heart attacks and strokes increase in the first few days after daylight saving time begins. Motor vehicle accidents do as well. You may even experience worsened symptoms of the following:
To protect your sleep through daylight saving and standard time changes, Dr. Krieger suggests the following:
Adjusting to daylight saving time and standard time can disrupt your sleep. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to reduce its effect when losing or gaining an hour of sleep.
Need a partner to help you sleep better all year? Find a doctor at Weill Cornell Medicine to get started.
