Summary
People can have difficulty adjusting to Daylight Savings Time changes. Some people experience mood changes during the Spring. Daylight Savings Time may affect some people’s mood. Making a small change in our habits in advance can ease the process.
March 10, 2024, is the date for Daylight Savings Time (DST) in most of the USA. Not every country observes DST and, if they do, it does not necessarily fall on the same date as in the USA.
Preparing for Springing Forward
DST can have an effect on our affective symptoms (mood). Obviously, DST may affect our sleep routine which can then impact our mood.
In order to allow ourselves to adapt to the loss of one hour for one day (March 10, 2024) and the subsequent change in what the hours on the clock represent (ie, 7am is actually the former 6am), I recommend to clients, colleagues, friends, and family, that our bedtime and awake time be altered gradually prior to March 10, 2024.
For some people, the adjustment may be easy. For others, losing one hour and trying to adjust on the following days to awaken at what would actually be an hour earlier are not easy adjustments.
Seasonal affective disorder is generally considered to cause low mood states starting in the Fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Let’s not forget that a subset of people experience depression starting in the Spring or the Summer.
(You’ve heard of the winter blues but what about summer depression? at https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/summer-depression
This is another reason to take care and prepare for DST.
How to Adjust Your Daily Routine
Now is the time to change your habits, as much as your lifestyle will allow.
- Go to bed 15 minutes earlier.
- Get up 15 minutes earlier.
- Maintain the adjustment for a few days and then subtract another 15 minutes to bedtime and awakening time (go to bed 15 minutes earlier, get up 15 minutes earlier).
If you make the change every three days, in six days you will have altered both your wake time and sleep time by 30 minutes.
And, you said it, I should have suggested starting three weeks ago.
Other Variables
Daily routines are not only comprised of the time we awaken and the time we go to bed. Some daytime activities cannot be adjusted because they are tied to a system outside of our control: when we need to be at work; when our children need to be at school; when our yoga class is held; when the gym is open; etc. There is a ripple effect because of other activities which take place before or after the aforementioned activities: dinner/supper; breakfast; lunch; extracurricular activities for the children; bath time; meetings outside of work; etc.
Maybe, the best we can do is to adjust our sleep and wake schedules. If we do, I think we will be a little bit ahead of the time change!
Wishing you a wonderful end to your week.
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