5 tips to adjust to the time change this weekend
Ottawa residents will 'fall back' one hour this weekend, marking the end of daylight saving time.
The switch to standard time occurs at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with clocks moving back one hour. The end of daylight saving time means it will get darker earlier in the evening, with sunset before 5 p.m. starting on Sunday.
The earlier sunrise and sunset can disrupt sleep routines for both children and adults.
"This one is a little bit easier to adapt to, we get that extra hour," Andrew Holmes of Sleep Efficiency tells CTV Morning Live.
"Everybody's circadian rhythm, it's also known as a sleep-wake cycle, and it can actually become desynchronized during this time and actually take a day or two, sometimes even a week, to adjust. When we lose an hour in the springtime, we actually see an increase in motor vehicle accidents, we see a spike in health complications and cardiac events, medical events. Alternatively, at this time of the year when we gain the hour, we actually see the opposite start to happen."
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Holmes has five tips to help adults adjust to the time change this weekend.
Prioritize daylight exposure
Holmes recommends exposing yourself to as much sunlight as possible on Sunday.
"Light and specifically natural light is the biggest external factor that affects sleep," Holmes said on Friday.
"When we get outside and expose ourselves to natural light, light enters the eye via the retina and it activates cells that then transmit signals to our brain that activate certain systems and that can kind of help resynchronize our sleep-wake cycle. So, on any given day, not just this weekend, getting out, exposing yourself to as much daylight as you possibly can."
Exercise
Holmes says the biggest challenge with the switch to standard time and one hour time adjustment this weekend is falling asleep on Sunday.
As you're outside this weekend, try to get in some exercise.
"The big challenge here this weekend is going to be your ability to fall asleep Sunday night," Holmes said. "So, getting out, exercising as much as you possibly can – that will help increase our sleep onset latency, which is our ability to fall asleep."
Cut the caffeine
While you may be tired on Sunday with the time change, Holmes recommends not having that late day coffee or caffeine fix to help stay awake.
"Caffeine actually impacts our ability to fall asleep at night; it actually has what they call a half-life of five or six hours," Holmes said.
"If you have a coffee later in the day, 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, 50 per cent of that caffeine is going to still be in your system five or six hours later, and then 25 per cent of the caffeine is still going to be in the system two to three hours later. So the general rule of thumb and the best sleep hygiene practices would be to cut the caffeine after 2 o'clock in the afternoon at the absolute earliest, I'd say earlier on this day (Sunday)."
Stick to a sleep schedule
"Go to bed at the same time, get up at the same time," Holmes said.
"Even this weekend, keep it the same – your body will naturally adjust after a day or two."
Limit screen time
Holmes recommends putting down your phone and turning off the TV Sunday evening to help you get some sleep.
"As much as light as you possibly can, natural light throughout the daytime, removing screens and that ambient light in the evening, allowing melatonin to be produced and allowing you to fall asleep, hopefully, in the best way possible."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
Canada's space agency invites you to choose the name of its first lunar rover
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is inviting Canadians to choose the name of the first Canadian Lunar Rover.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.