How to avoid losing an hour of sleep when we ‘spring forward.’
Many folks dread ‘losing an hour of sleep at the start of daylight saving time (‘spring forward’). DST officially starts at 2:00 AM on a Sunday, so if you normally go to bed at 11:00 and wake up at 7:00 (we’re all getting our eight hours,right?), at the start of DST, you go to bed at 11:00 and wake up at 7:00, but you missed an hour of sleep when your clock clicked from 1:59 AM to 3:00 AM.
But do we really need to lose an hour of sleep?
According to the National Institute of Health, sleep plays a critically important role in our lives:
Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.
The way you feel while you’re awake depends in part on what happens while you’re sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development.
The damage from sleep deficiency can occur in an instant (such as a car crash), or it can harm you over time. For example, ongoing sleep deficiency can raise your risk for some chronic health problems. It also can affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others.
Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency
If you agree that sleep is important, there is one simple act you can do to not lose it when DST ends: Set your clock forward after dinner.
Say your ‘bedtime’ is 11:00. If you wait until you go to bed to set our clocks forward, you will climb into bed at 11:00 and switch your clock to midnight…you just lost an hour of sleep.
But, if you set our clock back after dinner, your clock will read 11:00 at 10:00, so you’ll go to bed and get your normal amount of sleep. You will lose an hour of your evening, but you’ll wake up the next morning with a full night’s sleep.
