The Best Things To Help Cope With Daylight Savings Time

You probably noticed by now that the days are getting longer. And while we’re all basking in the fact that it’s not dark when we leave work, it’s time for one of the more inconvenient parts of spring: Daylight Savings Time.

What the end of DST means in the fall is that we all have to relive an hour of our lives, Groundhog Day-style with an extra hour of sleep, but the start of DST come springtime is a mandatory, middle-of-the-night, hour-long trip in the Delorean to the future. “Spring forward” may seem like an optimistic approach to losing an entire hour of your day (more time in the sun, yeah, yeah) but getting your body and mind used to the time change can be an adjustment. Here are some things to implement into your routine so as to not get too bogged down in the chronology of it all.

Wake-up lights like the Philips Somneo or the Casper Glow can really help your body ease into losing that precious hour of sleep because it may still be dark when you wake up. You should also utilize the sundown feature to hopefully recoup that missing time on the backend by going to bed a little bit earlier and having the dimming light gradually lull you to sleep.

Smartwatches can help in a myriad of ways when it comes to staying healthy during DST. Reminders to eat or drink at certain times will help keep you away from late-night snacking since your body is used to eating at a different time. You could even set alarms reminding you that it’s time to start winding down, even if your body thinks differently.

The jury is still out on how well blue light-blocking lenses work in general, but the good news is that there is evidence that they may aid in helping you  fall asleep. Since blue light blocks melatonin production (you know, the chemical that makes you sleepy), if you’re still wide-awake by your normal bedtime, scrolling through Instagram, popping a pair of blue light-blocking glasses on may help.

Going to bed early may be tough if you’re used to a certain level of darkness. Investing in a sleep mask (or an entirely black pillowcase) could be the difference between tossing and turning for the first few hours or falling into a deep restful slumber.

Adding CBD to your nightly could help calm your mind and ease you into sleep. Whether that’s chewing on a gummy or two, using a balm or oil, or taking a CBD-infused bath, the hemp-derived chemical can potentially be the key to restful sleep when all your body wants to do is stay up for that extra hour.

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