--- title: Daylight Saving Time: 4 Ways to Make the Switch Less Miserable description: Making the switch to Daylight Saving Time is never fun, but you don't have to lose sleep over it. canonical: https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-06T13:00:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:03:03.515Z article:section: Health og:title: 4 Ways to Make the Switch to Daylight Saving Time Better og:description: Start by dialing back your bedtime now og:url: https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71473cdef5568fb4/6987821b0b72e38a406ddfcf/168526272-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 507 og:image:height: 285 og:image:alt: flower-clock-daylight-savings-time og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Ways to Make the Switch to Daylight Saving Time Better twitter:description: Start by dialing back your bedtime now twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71473cdef5568fb4/6987821b0b72e38a406ddfcf/168526272-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Ways to Make the Switch to Daylight Saving Time Less Miserable > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=9f81c119-e9b6-48de-9af9-af3f8b34c216&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Time Explains: Daylight Saving Time [Watch (HLS stream): Time Explains: Daylight Saving Time](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gMvVuTDE.m3u8) (2:26)  _Published 2013-10-30. A recent study shows that daylight saving actually accomplishes the opposite of its intended goal: saving energy._ by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Mar 6, 2015 1:00 PM UTC A recent study shows that daylight saving actually accomplishes the opposite of its intended goal: saving energy. by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Mar 6, 2015 1:00 PM UTC You’ve made it through the endless winter of 2014-15 (almost), and spring is around the corner. The first signpost of the new season arrives in the wee hours of Sunday, March 8, when most of us turn our clocks ahead one hour to inaugurate Daylight Saving Time. But “springing forward,” as fun as it sounds, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, according to sleep specialist and clinical psychologist Michael Breus, PhD. “Most people actually have a harder time adjusting when we ‘spring forward,’ because we’re losing an hour of sleep,” Breus says. And those of us who are already chronically sleep deprived can’t afford to lose any more. In fact, a survey released this week from the National Sleep Foundation found that, on average, Americans report a sleep debt of about 26 minutes on workdays (that’s the gap between how much shut-eye people say they need and how much they actually get). But, thankfully, there are steps you can take to make the time change more bearable. **Read more:** [14 Reasons You’re Always Tired](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20818045,00.html?xid=time-daylightsavings-030215) **Start by dialing back your bedtime** “If you’re among the many Americans who are sleep deprived, it probably won’t be difficult for you to fall asleep at the new time,” Breus says. Just be sure to set your clock ahead _before_ going to sleep on Saturday, March 7\. “That way, seeing the lost hour up front will motivate you to go to bed earlier.” Waiting to change your clocks the next morning and watching that hour disappear can feel like a loss, says Breus. If you’re among the only marginally sleep deprived, or if you have generally good sleep habits, you can get yourself in gear by pulling back your bedtime incrementally before the time change. “On Thursday, go to bed another 15 minutes earlier, and another 15 the next two nights so that by Saturday, you’re going to bed an hour early,” Breus suggests. The time change disruption is worse for kids, for whom regular bed times and consistent habits are especially important. “If they get to stay up until 11pm on Friday night, make it 10pm,” says Breus. “Since they’re losing the hour, they need to go to bed earlier.” It’ll pay off come school day. **Read more:** [How to Sleep With Someone Who Snores](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20872605,00.html?xid=time-daylightsavings-030215) **Avoid certain drinks this weekend** You already know that limiting your alcohol intake is generally a smart move, and this weekend in particular, Breus advises capping your nightcap. “Even though alcohol makes you feel sleepy, it prevents you from reaching those all-important deeper stages of sleep. So if you’re already going to be losing an hour of sleep, the last thing you need is poorer quality sleep.” Abstaining may make for less fun on the weekend, but will help you get back in the swing on Monday. Breus also suggests going easy on the caffeine. If you feel like that cuppa Joe is necessary to jump-start your acclimation, just be sure to stop sipping by 2pm so as not to interfere with your new, earlier bedtime. **Read more:** [The Best and Worst Foods for Sleep](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20628881,00.html?xid=time-daylightsavings-030215) **Play it safe on Monday morning** Not all of us have the most flexible work schedules, but Breus advises seeking leniency this one day out of the year. “Ask your boss if you can come in to work a little late the Monday after the time change, or ask if you can work from home.” For one, this allows you to reap the health benefits of catching up on those all-important lost zzz’s. And if you drive to work, it also allows you to stay off the roads on a particularly hectic and potentially dangerous morning. Research has shown an increase in fatal car accidents on the Monday following the spring time change compared to other Mondays before and after the start of Daylight Saving Time. “It’s not a bad idea to avoid rush hour on Monday morning when roads will be filled with sleep-deprived people running late for work or school,” Breus says. **Read more:** [17 Ways Your Job Is Making You Fat](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20889404,00.html?xid=time-daylightsavings-030215) **Tweak your workout schedule (maybe)** For some folks with a regular fitness routine, switching things up can help you adjust to Daylight Saving Time. “If exercise chills you out and relaxes you, the extra hour of evening light gives you more opportunity to exercise outdoors,” Breus says. And regular exercise is a key component to maintaining a healthy sleep schedule. Just remember to preserve a three-hour window between your sweat session and bedtime so you have enough time to wind down, he suggests. “On the other hand, if you feel energized after your workouts, you should keep doing it in the morning, time change or not, because you don’t want that energy boost to lead to insomnia,” Breus says. You’ll just be up in the dark—again. [_This article originally appeared on Health.com._](http://news.health.com/2015/03/03/when-is-daylight-savings-time-2015/) ## Transcript Every spring, we turn our clocks an hour ahead. And in the fall, we turn them back. But why? Researchers and government officials are reevaluating the need for Daylight Savings Time. And here's what you need to know. The practice of Daylight Savings actually originates at the beginning of civilization. People adjusted their daily schedules depending on the sun which meant that the workday varied in length. Fast- forward to 1784 when Benjamin Franklin published an essay in France suggesting that rising earlier could help people save money on candles. More than 100 years later, George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand astronomer, suggested a two- hour daylight saving shift. Then, again, in 1907, British builder, William Willett proposed advancing clocks by 80 minutes in four incremental steps. But Daylight Savings Time wasn't formally implemented until World War I when Germany attempted to drive down the demand for electrical lighting to divert more coal to the war. Thirty- one other countries quickly followed with similar policies, seizing any opportunity to save money during the war. Daylight Savings was repealed during peacetime, but was brought back during World War II in the 1973 oil embargo. Since then, various laws have made Daylight Savings Time a standard practice across America. But states can opt out as Arizona, Hawaii, and other American territories have. Yet, despite all of Daylight Savings' promises to reduce energy consumption and save money, there's little proof that it works. In 2008, researchers released a study on statewide energy consumption before and after Indiana adopted Daylight Savings Time. The data shows that Daylight Savings actually led to a 1 percent overall rise in residential electricity and that's not even the worst of it. Another 2008 study shows that Daylight Savings affects sleeping patterns and may be linked to an increase in heart attacks. Currently, Daylight Savings is implemented worldwide in over 70 countries, but as the evidence starts to pile up against the practice, Daylight Savings may just become another footnote in history. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/"},"headline":"4 Ways to Make the Switch to Daylight Saving Time Less Miserable","datePublished":"2015-03-06T13:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:03:03.515Z","description":"Start by dialing back your bedtime now","url":"https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Sleep","daylight saving time"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71473cdef5568fb4/6987821b0b72e38a406ddfcf/168526272-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Health.com","jobTitle":"Contributor","url":"https://time.com/author/health-com/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71473cdef5568fb4/6987821b0b72e38a406ddfcf/168526272-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"flower-clock-daylight-savings-time","caption":"flower-clock-daylight-savings-time","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/","name":"4 Ways to Make the Switch to Daylight Saving Time Less Miserable"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Time Explains: Daylight Saving Time","description":"A recent study shows that daylight saving actually accomplishes the opposite of its intended goal: saving energy.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gMvVuTDE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-10-30T23:42:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gMvVuTDE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/","duration":"PT2M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3731924/daylight-saving-time/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```