6 Ways to Beat Daylight Saving Time
By DAN WEST
The Kokomo Post staff
Daylight Savings Time is coming up fast, and it’s the same thing every year: you wake up in a panic and have to check your phone to see if it automatically changed or not. Then you spend the next three days in a sluggish funk while your brain catches up to the time shift. Our clocks move an hour forward at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 14, but before that happens, The Kokomo Post scoured the internet to find all the best tips to get over that post-time change slump!
Plan Ahead
Sleep Specialist Harneet Walia, MD suggests in a blog post for the Cleveland Clinic going to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier than usual a few days before the time change. That extra time will help you make up for the lost hour. Plus, who doesn’t love some extra sleep?
Manage Mealtimes
In an interview with Brit.co, Terry Cralle, of the Better Sleep Council, advises us to manage our mealtimes. Cralle suggests we eat two to three hours before bedtime, and to avoid late afternoon coffees or overindulging on alcohol. “Since alcohol and caffeine are sleep interrupters, try to limit your caffeine intake to morning and finish drinking any alcohol by early evening,” she said.
Go Outside
Carmen Dohmeier, a doctor of neurology and sleep medicine, suggests going outside as early and as often as possible in this post on conehealth.com. Sunlight helps us wake up and primes our brains for normal circadian rhythm, which determines our sleep and waking patterns.
Cut the Electronics
In an interview with healthline.com, Jose Puangco, MD, diplomate of the American Board of Neurology and the American Board of Sleep Medicine, says you should cut out the screen time an hour before bed.
“Light from TVs, computers, tablets, and cellphone screens can suppress melatonin and cut down the quality of your sleep,” said Puangco. This is because these screens emit blue light, which tricks your body into thinking it is daytime.
Don’t Over-Nap
In an article for the Mayo Clinic, Doctor of Sleep Medicine Rachel Zeigler, MD, suggests napping in 15-20 minute increments in the early afternoon. Over-napping or napping too late in the day can leave you sluggish during the day and ruin your regular sleep schedule at night.
Keep a Routine
Every expert cited in this post emphasizes the importance of a routine. Cralle calls it “making a sleep deal with yourself” to schedule out your times for bedtime and waking up. Sticking to that routine, along with all of the other tips so far will help mitigate the stress of the time change. Good luck!
