This Sunday, 2am will not exist. Instead, clocks will jump from 1:59.59 am to 3:00.00 am when most of us are asleep and none the wiser. Although Daylight Savings happens annually, it will still come as a surprise for many of us. The hour of the day that’s lost is stolen from the time our bodies most need to recover.
The idea behind Daylight Savings is to lend an hour of daylight from the early morning to the evening, so we have more daytime hours to do fun and productive things. This, according to our sleep health expert, Dr Carmel Harrington, can help you sleep better than if there were no Daylight Savings.
“People normally groan at the thought of the clocks going forward and losing an hour of sleep, but you also gain an hour of daylight…You’ll feel more energised; it will help reduce anxiety and aid sleep,” she says.
Despite this well-meaning intention, Daylight Savings can lead to other effects besides just having to reset our clocks. For most of us, getting out of bed will be harder for the first couple of days. If, however, you’re already not sleeping well, Daylight Savings can force you into further sleep debt. It is also likely to throw your sleep-wake cycle or circadian rhythm further out of whack, making you feel more tired and less alert than you already are.