Daylight Saving Time is back. You know what “spring forward” means: losing an hour of sleep, feeling groggy for days, and snapping at your coworker for breathing too loud on Monday morning. (Looking at you, Dave.)

DST hits hard because we treat it like a light switch. One day we’re on one schedule, the next day we’ve jumped forward an hour. Our circadian rhythm gets confused. (Just like your dog at dinner time.) And spoiler alert: Your body doesn’t work like that.

The good news? With a few strategic moves, you can glide through the time change without becoming a zombie. Here’s how to do it without overthinking or suffering.

1. Shift Your Sleep Schedule Earlier (we’re only talking 15 Minutes)

Don’t wait until Sunday morning to deal with it. Your circadian clock can theoretically adjust one to two hours easily under ideal conditions. Realistically, most people adapt more slowly, especially when you’re losing an hour.

There’s good news, though. Gradual phase shifts are significantly easier on you than abrupt changes. This means small adjustments over several days are easier than one big jump.

What to do: Starting a couple of days before the time change, go to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual. Friday night, 15 minutes earlier. Saturday night, another 15. By Sunday morning when you “lose” an hour, you’ve already shifted 30 minutes of that adjustment. Your body only has to adapt to 30 minutes instead of a full hour. Most people handle that pretty well.

Best case scenario, you start on Thursday. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier each night, and my Monday you’ve made up that lost hour. Even one or two early nights can help, though. Yes, you’ll probably resist going to bed early when you’re not tired yet. Do it anyway. Dim the lights, start winding down, get into bed 15 minutes earlier each night. Your Monday-morning self will thank you.

2. Get Bright Light Exposure Within 30 Minutes of Wake-up

Your circadian rhythm is controlled by light more than any other factor. Morning light is the most powerful tool you have to shift your internal clock (which is exactly what you need to spring forward).

Studies from BMC Public Health demonstrate that light exposure in the early morning advances your circadian phase. Sunlight (or sunlight therapy lights) tells your brain “the day starts now” and resets your internal clock. Believe it or not, getting sunlight when you wake up has a direct effect on your ability to fall asleep at night.

What to do: On Sunday morning (and for the first week of the time change), get outside within 30 minutes of waking up. It only takes 10-15 minutes of natural light exposure to work wonders. Cloudy day? Doesn’t matter. Outdoor light is 10-30 times brighter than indoor lighting.

The best way to adjust is a quick walk in the sun when you wake up. No time for a morning walk? Drink your coffee on the porch. Eat breakfast by a window. Do your morning scroll outside (or, you know, maybe skip the scroll entirely).

If you’re up before the sun or absolutely can’t get outside, use a 10,000-lux light therapy box for 20-30 minutes. These aren’t just for seasonal affective disorder. They’re circadian reset tools. Here are a few options:

• Verilux HappyLight Luxe Light Therapy Lamp ($70)
• LASTAR 10,000 Lux Sun Lamp ($25-$35)
• DayBright Light Therapy Full Spectrum No-UV Lamp ($199)

3. Avoid the Sunday Afternoon Nap

Sunday afternoon, you’re probably going to feel tired. You lost an hour of sleep, and that couch looks incredibly inviting.

Do not nap.

Naps are useful for brain plasticity and general brain health, but they can slow your body’s ability to adjust to a time change. Even if you’re a regular napper, consider skipping naps the first few days after a time change. Let your sleep pressure build up.

Heres why this helps: taking a nap reduces homeostatic sleep pressure. That’s the biological drive that makes you sleepy at night. If you nap on Sunday afternoon, you’ll have trouble falling asleep Sunday night, which creates a cascading problem all week.

What to do: If you’re truly struggling, set a 15-20 minute nap limit. Set an alarm for 20 minutes, and rest. Using an alarm prevents you from falling into deep sleep and disrupting your sleep pressure.

Better strategy: Stay active on Sunday. Go for a walk, do errands, see a friend. Keep moving until your new bedtime. You’ll feel tired, but you’ll also fall asleep faster Sunday night.

4. Eat Meals Earlier (Your Gut Has a Clock)

Your circadian system isn’t just controlled by light. It’s also influenced by when you eat. Food is what researchers call a “zeitgeber” (time-giver), and your digestive system has its own clock that expects meals at certain times. It’s why you get hungry around your usual mealtimes.

Research published in Cell Metabolism found that meal timing and fasting influence physiological rhythms throughout the body, including sleep-wake cycles. If you’re trying to shift your schedule earlier but eating dinner at your old time, you’re sending your body mixed signals. Eat earlier.

What to do: Along with shifting your bedtime earlier by 15-minute increments, shift your meals earlier too. If you normally eat dinner at 7 p.m., move it to 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 6:15 p.m. on Saturday. You don’t have to be exact, just move your eating window a little earlier.

Breakfast is also important. Eating within an hour of waking helps anchor your circadian rhythm to your new schedule. Even if you’re not a breakfast person, have something small like yogurt, a piece of fruit, or a few nuts. You’re telling your body, “Hey, it’s morning now.”

5. Ditch Screens an Hour Earlier

Take the no-screen challenge for a week. You already know blue light from screens makes it harder to fall asleep. During the DST transition, this effect is magnified because you’re asking your body to fall asleep at what it perceives as an earlier time.

Studies in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show that evening screen use delays circadian phase and suppresses melatonin production by up to 55%. When you’re trying to shift your sleep schedule, evening screen time works against you more than usual.

What to do: For the week surrounding DST (a few days before through a few days after), stop using screens at least one hour before your target bedtime. Yes, an entire hour. Use that time for quiet activities. Read a physical book, do some light stretching, talk to your partner or roommate, journal, or listen to calming music at low volume.

If you absolutely must use devices at night, enable night mode (reduces blue light by 50-70%) and keep brightness at minimum. Better yet, use blue-light blocking glasses after 8 p.m. You can get them in funky frames, yellow or red lenses, and readers.

You Can Adjust to Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time doesn’t have to wreck your week. Treat it like the circadian disruption it is and give your body the gradual adjustment it needs.

Start shifting a few days early. Get morning light. Skip the Sunday nap. Move your meals. Ditch screens earlier. These aren’t complicated steps. They’re strategic, easy shifts.

Will you feel 100% normal on Monday morning? Maybe not. But you’ll feel functional instead of zombified, which is all we can ask for when the time change steals an hour of our sleep.

Listen to the podcast version of this article

NSR on Substack