It’s About Time! The Clock That Keeps the Entire U.S. Ticking What's
better than sleeping in on a Sunday? How about dodging the days-long
consequences of rolling the clocks back this weekend?
Daylight Saving Time
ends this weekend, which means that most residents in the country
return to Standard Time at 2 a.m. Sunday. To do so, most people set the
clocks back one hour Saturday night, before they hit the hay. This does
not apply to you if you live in most of Arizona or Hawaii, where it’s
always island time.
Sure, you'll gain an hour when Daylight Saving
Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. But spending said hour in bed after sunrise
will do you few favors in the long run, sleep experts say.
"It will hit you Sunday evening," said Dr. Yosef Krespi, director of the New York Head and Neck Institute's Center for Sleep Disorders. "But if your body clock is tuned to waking up with sunlight, you're going to benefit."
The body clock is a cluster of neurons deep inside the brain that generates the circadian rhythm, also known as the sleep-wake cycle. The cycle spans roughly 24 hours, but it's not precise.
"It
needs a signal every day to reset it," said Dr. Alfred Lewy, director
of Oregon Health and Science University's Sleep and Mood Disorders
Laboratory in Portland.
The
signal is sunlight, which shines in through the eyes and "corrects the
cycle from approximately 24 hours to precisely 24 hours," said Lewy. But
when the sleep-wake and light-dark cycles don't line up, people can
feel out-of-sync, tired and grumpy.
With time, the body clock adjusts on its own. But here are a few ways to help it along.
1. Wake Up at a Normal Time Sunday Morning
Many
people see the extra hour as an excuse to stay up later and sleep in
longer. But sleeping through the Sunday morning sunlight can leave you
feeling out of sorts for the start of the week, according to Krespi.
Instead, try to get up at the same time. Use the extra hour to go for a morning walk or make a hearty breakfast.
2. Eat Well and Exercise
Speaking
of morning walks and breakfast, an active lifestyle and a healthy diet
can work wonders for your sleep, according to Krespi. So grab your
partner, your dog or your favorite playlist and get outside some fresh
air and exercise. And dig into a breakfast packed with whole grains and
protein to keep you energized through the 25-hour day.
3. Get a Good Night's Sleep Sunday Night
Still have extra time to kill Sunday? Use it to turn your bedroom into a full-fledged sleep zone.
"It
has to be quiet, it has to be cool and it has to be dark," said Krespi.
"Shut down your gadgets and turn away that alarm clock so you don't
watch it tick."
Try to hit the sack at your usual bedtime, even though it will be dark one hour earlier.
4. Try a Low Dose of Melatonin
While
light synchronizes the body clock in the morning, the hormone melatonin
updates it at night. The exact function of the hormone, produced by the
pea-size pineal gland in the middle of the brain, is unclear. But it
can activate melatonin receptors on the neurons of the body clock,
acting as a "chemical signal for darkness," Lewy said.
Taking
a low dose of melatonin in the evening can help sync the sleep-wake and
light-dark cycles. But be careful: Although melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement, it can cause drowsiness and interfere with other drugs. Talk to your doctor about the dosage and timing that's right for you.
5. Know That Your Body Will Adjust It might take a few days to feel 100 percent normal, but fear not: Your body will adjust to the new light-dark cycle.
"Some
people suffer more, some people less, it all depends," said Krespi,
adding that falling back in November tends to be easier than springing
forward in March. "On Monday morning, we'll appreciate that we're waking
up for work or school with sunlight."
Tomorrow marks our next national foray into Daylight Saving
Time (at 2:00 a.m. EST, feel free to set your clocks—though, pro tip,
your iPhone will update automatically), and the increasingly unfriendly
climes and incumbent winter season mean that we’re falling back, to reap
all of the dwindling daylight hours that we can. We gain an hour, is
what we’re saying, but that doesn’t mean that your look for the weekend
should be anything less than totally relaxed. Why not use the extra hour
where you know you’ll enjoy it—cuddled up and cozy in bed? (And after
all those Halloween festivities, you’ve certainly earned it.) Could
anything feel more, well, timely? Here, the best looks for a very
tucked-in, snuggled-up weekend.
