The good news: You’ll get a wonderful extra hour of sleep. The Bad: It will be dark by noon in the US for the next few months Daylight Saving Time will end next Sunday, November 3 at 2 a.m. local time, which means you should set your clocks an hour earlier. go to bed. Standard time will remain in place until March 9 when we will “move forward” again with the return of Daylight Saving Time.
The change of spring can be harder on your body. Dark mornings and light evenings can throw off your internal body clock, making it harder to fall asleep on time for weeks or longer. Studies have also found that heart attacks and strokes increased right after the March time change.
“Fall back” should be easy. But it may still take some time to adjust your sleep habits, not to mention the pitfalls of leaving work in the dark or exercising when there’s ample light. Some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression typically associated with the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter, may also struggle.
Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have stated that it is time to eliminate the time change and that adherence to standard time is better in sync with the sun and human biology. Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do – mostly in Europe and North America – the date for changing the clocks varies. Two states – Arizona and Hawaii – do not make the change and remain on standard time.
Here’s what to know about the twice-yearly ritual.
How the body reacts to light
The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we fall into sleep and when we are more alert. Patterns change with age, which is one reason why early risers develop into hard-to-wake teenagers.
Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, the levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to increase, causing drowsiness. Too much light in the evening – that extra hour from daylight savings – delays that growth and the cycle gets out of sync. And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also affecting things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones, and metabolism.
How do time changes affect sleep?
Even a clock change of one hour can disrupt sleep schedules – because even though the clocks change, work and school start times remain the same. This is a problem because many people are already sleep deprived. Nearly 1 in 3 American adults sleep less than the recommended seven hours a night, and more than half of American teens don’t get more than the recommended eight hours on weeknights. Lack of sleep is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity, and many other problems.
How to prepare for the time change?
Some people try to prepare for the shock of the time change by moving their bedtime a bit in the days leading up to the change. There are several ways to make the adjustment easier, including getting more sunlight to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthy sleep.
Will America ever get rid of time change?
Lawmakers sometimes propose getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent effort, a now stalled bipartisan bill called the Sunshine Protection Act, proposes making daylight saving time permanent. Health experts say lawmakers have overstepped – standard time should be made permanent.
