Daylight Savings feels more like Daylight Robbery
Let’s talk about saving the daylight… pretty sure we didn’t save any daylight this past weekend… more like we gave it away because at 7pm, I feel like I should have gone to bed hours ago I've pretty much been in bed this week at 9pm.
Here are a few science-backed practices I've learned and put into place to help handle the daylight shift.
#1 - Get morning sunlight as early as possible and as soon after you wake up as possible - like within 30-60 minutes. Natural sun is best. Not through your window or from your car. Try to get 10-15 minutes if possible on a sunny day and 20 on a cloudy day.
#2 - Avoid sunglasses and don’t be an idiot and stare directly at the sun.
#3 - Stop drinking your caffeine by 1pm. If you feel like you need an afternoon jolt, there are other options that aren’t caffeine. (I love ENERGY BITS - click here)
#4 - As the sun is going down in late afternoon, get outside again - this helps your body to start making Melatonin to prep you for bedtime.
#5 - Turn off the overhead lights in your house by 7pm. Switch to lamps or red lights. This is what we have in our house - HERE
#6 - Stay off screens at least 1-2 hours before bed. If you need to be on a screen, put on blue blocker glasses. We love the ones from TrueDark.
#7 - Try to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day.
#8 - Turn down the temp in your house at night - we like it at 68 degrees. Your body need to cool down to get you into sleep mode.
#9 - Stop eating at least 3 hours before bed. This is what your body needs in order to recover during sleep as opposed to working on digestion.
#10 - Take a sleep stack if you have trouble - I love LongLiv Sleep trio but there are a bunch of other good ones out there - the thing that works for me is the combo of Magnesium, Apigenin and L-Theanine.
I also recorded a podcast a few years back with Sleep expert Dr. Shelby Harris. Check it out HERE.
If you'd like more tips and our recommended doctors to follow for more science-backed information on sleep - Click Here!