Find Time to Spring Forward!

The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The way you use your time is the way you live your life.

Find Time to Spring Forward!

Posted on March 9, 2009, under Transitions and Time.

Finding time when Daylight Saving Time arrives can be a challenge! Today I want to share a few Daylight Saving facts, along with 3 tips for staying healthy as you move through this transition. (In the spirit of flexibility and good change management, I’ll be postponing Cyber Monday’s post ’til tomorrow!)

Daylight Saving Time has a long and complex history. While many people welcome the change in the spring that spells more light at the end of the day, the transition can be very disruptive. So disruptive, in fact, that people’s health and well-being are affected. According to this article by Kim Painter in USA Today, the effects can go on for quite some time:

It’s just one hour, but experts in chronobiology – the study of our internal body clocks – say it takes most people several days to adjust. (The fall change also is disruptive, but less so.) One recent study from German researchers, published in the journal Current Biology, found that some habitual night owls have trouble getting enough sleep for weeks after the spring shift – which, in effect, demands that we all go to bed and get up an hour earlier.

Whatever your feelings about the end result, the transition to Daylight Saving Time can be a challenge. Here are 3 ideas to help you manage this change:

Expect to feel tired today. This is often the day when “springing ahead” starts to catch up with you. Build time into your day to take care of yourself. I don’t advise taking a nap, though! That will make it harder to get to sleep tonight.

Pay special attention to your health over the next few days. Drink plenty of water, and aim to get to bed early tonight and sleep for 7-8 hours if you can. Give your body time to get back into a rhythm!

Be patient with yourself and with family and friends. Knowing up front that this can be a difficult transition will help you avoid unnecessary conflicts. If you find yourself feeling frazzled and cranky, try to take some space to regain perspective.

How does the start of Daylight Saving Time affect you? What did you do to prepare? How did it work for you? Drop me a line – I’d love to hear!

What if you could find another hour every day? You can! For more Time Finding resources, you are invited to sign up and download The New Finding Time Boundary Template. It’s FREE, and when you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) my FREE, weekly Finding Time Tips and my FREE, monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine!

Let’s explore time together …

Paula's Signature

There are 5 Responses to “Find Time to Spring Forward!”

#1 Alison - 09 March, 10:09 AM

Thanks, Paula,

I completely agree, and added an hour to last night’s sleep to ‘make up’ what I lost. But I still feel out of sync…

I think I’ll use your article called “Time Management Tips – 7 Tips to Reshape Daily Rituals That Add Meaning to Your Time” at http://tinyurl.com/ah3848 to help me create a new and even better balance for “springing ahead”!

#2 Paula - 09 March, 3:30 PM

Hi Alison – I’m so glad that you find these tools helpful. Best of luck with getting back into sync!

#3 Wendy - 10 March, 9:47 AM

Hi Paula,

Great post! I was thinking about this myself since I’ve been tired these last few days! I going to track back to your awesome post in my post tomorrow.

I love that we’re on the same wave length so often.

#4 Paula - 10 March, 5:49 PM

Thanks, Wendy … and I do, too! (I knew that you’d be applauding the water-drinking advice!) I’ll look forward to your post tomorrow – have a great evening!

#5 Protect Your Health — Ease Your Way into the Time Change | Healthy Endeavors: Developing Healthy Eating Habits for Life! - 11 March, 6:34 AM

[...] And in fact, it can take a few weeks to adjust to a one hour time difference. I loved the post my friend and colleague Paula talked about earlier this week about the importance of really [...]

If this is your first comment it may be held for moderation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed, or Trackback from your own site.