Sleep Debt and Daylight Savings Time
Most people get that Monday feeling. Shaking off the relaxation (or lack thereof) they experienced over the weekend and slowly preparing for the work week ahead. Next Monday is an especially tough Monday since it marks the first weekday of Daylight Savings Time.
One study found that between the first Sunday and Monday of Daylight Savings Time, the average person loses 40 minutes of sleep! Nothing a little coffee can’t fix, right? It may feel that way at first, but our bodies and minds keep track of how much sleep we get and start accumulating sleep debt.
So, what is sleep debt? To function properly, the average adult needs about 7 hours of sleep each night. When we miss out on any of that sleep, our bodies expect us to get a little extra rest to make up the difference and when we don’t that debt builds up. That 40 minutes we’ll lose between Sunday and Monday can easily turn into 200 minutes by the end of the week if we don’t make adjustments to our evening schedule. And that’s just one week! The more sleep we lose, the more our sleep debt builds.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, this can have a significant impact on our bodies and minds. Our sleep debt can increase our risk of hypertension, daytime fatigue, make us more irritable and impair our cognition, making us think slower and less cohesively.
One of the best ways we can avoid accumulating sleep debt is to make minor adjustments beforehand. Especially this week, try starting your evening routine or going to bed a little earlier than usual to make up for the difference. It may be relaxing to slow down and do a low-impact activity like watching a little TV before bed, but if our relaxation cuts into our time sleeping, we’ll feel it in the morning. Another option is to set your clocks forward Saturday evening, which will help you mentally adjust to the change, especially if you go to bed at the same time.
If these strategies don’t work for you, not to worry! Unlike financial debt, sleep debt doesn't accrue interest, and you can look for different ways to work a little more sleep into your schedule to whittle it down. One of the best ways to do so is by trying to take a short nap during the day or by sleeping in when you get the chance. That extra 10-30 minutes of sleep can make a big impact on our overall sleep debt.
Getting enough sleep each night is an essential part of keeping up with our mental and physical health. As our bodies adjust to the time change it’s important to make sure we don’t fall into a rhythm of bad sleeping habits. A little extra sleep this week and next will go a long way in helping us keep our sleep debt down and our bodies and minds well rested all month long.
God Bless you and sleep well,
Ryan Walker
Director of Outreach and Development