Even though you may know when Daylight Savings Time is supposed to start, it doesn’t mean that you’ll be ready for it. After all, it’s much easier to set your devices to spring forward than your bodies. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways you can get your body up to speed seamlessly so you don’t have to suffer from the ill effects of the time change.
10 Ways to Adapt Quickly to the Time Change
1. Use Relaxation Techniques
If you’ve never tried relaxation techniques, now is a great time to explore them. Since the switch to DST can be stressful, learning these techniques can combat this. Stress can make it harder for you to cope with your daily responsibilities and affect your health. Activities like deep breathing, stints of meditation, and a brief yoga session can also help when it’s time to get to sleep.
2. Eat Healthy Meals
Proper nutrition can help with concentrating and maintaining your energy levels throughout the day. There is also a link between a balanced diet and sleeping well. To maintain this, the experts suggest filling your plate with a healthy mixture of lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. While your breakfast and lunch can be heavier, it’s best to keep dinner manageable. You also want to ensure that you don’t eat any heavy meals less than two hours before bedtime.
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3. Prioritize Sun Exposure
A healthy circadian rhythm thrives on sunlight. As you’re getting used to the time change, you want to ensure that you get some sunlight in the early hours of the day. The light exposure will help your body to adjust more quickly to being awake and active at that time. Though being outside is better, just opening the curtains to let the light in can make a difference.
4. Stay Hydrated
Getting the right amount of water every day is essential to helping your body cope with the change. DST can disrupt your systems so staying hydrated and eating well gives your body a chance to fight back. Additionally, you want to avoid anything that will dehydrate you such as alcohol. You also shouldn’t drink alcohol close to or before bed as it can disrupt your sleep.
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5. Minimize Sleep Disruptions
Apart from having trouble getting to sleep, DST can mean that you have trouble staying asleep as well. The best thing you can do is make a plan for preventing and managing disruptions. Eating and drinking before going to bed can keep your digestive system working – which makes it hard to settle down. You may also wake up to use the bathroom. As such, it’s best to avoid doing that. If you wake up anyway, try relaxation techniques to get back to bed.
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6. Don’t Skip Your Exercise Routine
As much as you may not want to, you need to maintain your exercise routine. Regular exercise can help your body adjust to the change while also helping you sleep when it gets to bedtime.
7. Adjust Your Schedule Where Possible
It’s typical for some people to have trouble keeping up with their usual schedule after the switch to DST. This can mean having trouble concentrating at the start of the day while suddenly being very awake in the afternoons. If you can move your tasks around to take advantage of this in the beginning, it will help you stay on top of your responsibilities while adjusting.
8. Nap Strategically
Though it’s best to stay awake throughout the day, sometimes the only way to combat your afternoon energy dip is to take a short nap. If you do this, you shouldn’t go past 20-30 minutes, and you should never nap late in the afternoon, as this can affect how well you sleep at night.
9. Don’t Think About Pre-DST
It might be tempting to imagine that you would still be asleep before DST took effect, but this doesn’t help you adjust. Mentally preparing yourself to move forward can go a long way toward a successful adjustment.
10. Re-Assess Your Bedtime Routine
You’d think that changing your bedtime routine by an hour would be a simple task. However, that’s rarely the case. You may need to take extra steps to keep your bedroom cool, dark, and noise-free. You may also need to revamp how you wind down before bed so your mind and body are ready for sleep. Finally, regardless of how well you sleep, resist the urge to hit the snooze button in the mornings. It’s essential that your body gets used to the new waking and sleeping times.
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How Daylight Savings Time Affects You
It’s common for people to state how drained they feel when the time changes so you’re not alone. According to the experts, there’s a big reason why you feel that way. Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been known to mess with your sleep health. Under normal circumstances, your body has a natural circadian rhythm that moves in sync with the day’s progression. This means you’re wired to be more awake when exposed to bright sunlight and get sleepy as the day gets darker.
However, studies show that you’re likely to get less sunlight during the stretch of DST between March and November. As such, it throws off your sleep cycle and you’re at risk for not sleeping well for this period. Not sleeping well does more than make you feel tired, though. Studies show that DST can affect different aspects of your physical and mental health.
Additionally, the effect tends to be worse for those who are natural night owls or those who regularly work the night shift. Though they’re used to sleeping through the daylight hours, the switch to DST can throw off their circadian rhythm even more – leaving them more tired than they’re used to.
Studies show that people who go through DST often deal with an increase in their blood pressure, bouts of depression, cognitive issues, digestive issues, and lowered immunity. To make things worse, the effects of DST aren’t only short-term. The long-term problems of DST can include prolonged depression, an increased risk of having strokes, cluster headaches, a slowed metabolism, weight gain, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
While many doctors would love to see DST abolished, that hasn’t happened yet. As a result, they urge everyone who lives in a state that adheres to the time change to take the necessary measures to protect their sleep and, by extension, their health.
You can’t stop DST, but that doesn’t mean you have to live at the mercy of its consequences. By implementing the tips listed here, you can adapt well to the time change and stay healthy.
