Expert Gives Advice on how to Ease Into Time Change

(KNSI) – This weekend we fall back, adding an extra hour early Sunday with the transition from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time.

While the change is generally considered easier than the shift in the spring, experts at the CentraCare – St. Cloud Sleep Center still suggest easing into it. Doctor of Health Psychology Mitch Fritz gives advice on the matter.

“Ideally, what folks could do is if, in the days leading up until Sunday, if you could gradually shift your schedule by about 15 to 20 minutes per day from the time that you’re going to bed, delaying that, and then also, if able, the time in which you’re waking up.”

He says to pay attention to when you are exercising and eating, as they also contribute to our circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock. If you have to try to make the adjustment on the fly over the weekend, Fritz stresses getting out early on Sunday morning.

“Light is one of the things that influences our body’s hormones the most. And so one of the things that folks can do is if you can get yourself that early morning light after Sunday, that can help with making this shift and this recalibration.”

Whether it comes easy or hard, luckily, you get about five and a half months of calm before we jump ahead in early March.

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