We all look forward to the “extra” hour of sleep in the fall when most of the country set their clocks back to standard time. But no one ever looks forward to “losing” that hour in the spring. Oddly setting the clocks back doesn’t seem to affect most people’s good sleep habits, this only seems to be a problem in the spring. Most of us know the importance of getting good sleep, but what effects does changing the clocks back and forth really have on our sleep and lives in general?
That Sudden Loss of Sleep
Those of us who tend to have good sleep habits like going to bed and getting up at the same time tend to be most affected by the change in time. We still go to bed at the same time of night because that is what our circadian rhythm has become used to. Your circadian rhythm is responsible for many vital processes in your body, one of which is your sleep patterns. When you change the clocks, it affects your circadian clock throwing your circadian rhythm completely out of whack.
When your body is not getting the sleep it needs, it affects many things, including your mood, many of your bodily functions, your productivity at work, and perhaps most importantly of all, your metabolism. Your metabolism is responsible for many functions in your body, but the one most of us are familiar with is weight loss or maintenance. During the few weeks, it can take your circadian rhythm to become used to your new sleep patterns; your metabolism is likely to be much slower which can slow down weight loss efforts and lead to weight gain.
What Can You Do?
Given the importance of getting good sleep, one of the first things you can do to adjust to the time change is stop referring to the previous timetable. All this does is confuse your mind even more. Let it go, the sooner you get over the fact the time change happened, the more quickly you will adapt to the new schedule.
Time to Adapt
For most of us, it only takes a week or so to adapt, but while doing so, you shouldn’t be using energy drinks, coffee, or any other forms of stimulant to help your body adjust. They will only prolong the process. For those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder, the time change can have a huge impact on their good sleep habits, causing the condition to be more pronounced, often resulting in a trip to their doctor.
Here at Bed’r Mattress, we know all about the importance of good sleep, and like most of our customers, we don’t like changing the clocks back and forth. We also believe that having the right mattress, such as one from our selection of Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, Stearns & Foster, and others, can go a long way towards making the transition back and forth from Standard time to Daylight Savings Time a little less stressful and help ensure you always get a good night’s sleep every night.