The start of Daylight Saving Time means that very early on Sunday morning (March 8 in 2026), at 2 a.m it suddenly becomes 3 a.m. (so reschedule that 2:30 a.m. dental appointment). Many of us have heard awful things about Daylight Saving Time, such as that moving clocks one hour ahead causes heart attacks after people lose an hour of sleep on Monday morning.
But last year I found a very promising way to handle the time change that allows you to ease into into the new time (no link because I didn’t save it. Oops.). So this year, I’m running the experiment.
The Hack
The hack is to get up/go to bed 15 minutes earlier for the three weeks leading up to March 8. Changing gradually not only makes getting up in the morning easier, it makes it easier to:
- Shift your stomach to new mealtimes
- Shift your brain to a new bedtime.
- Wake up with your baby/pets since babies/pets don’t change their sleep schedule for Daylight Saving Time.
The Practice
On Sunday, Feb 17 I set my morning alarm for 6:15 a.m. instead of my usual 6:30 a.m. I kept to that schedule all week. On Sunday, Feb 24 I was ready to set my alarm for 6 a.m, but psychologically getting up earlier and earlier each week felt like too much. So, I changed tactics.
The Adjustment
On Sunday, Feb 24 I set my clocks so they were 30 minutes ahead of the real time. On Monday morning I got up at 6 a.m. Central Time, but for me, my clock said I was getting up at 6:30 a.m. I even figured out that on my iPhone/iPad if I go into Settings, click on General, and then on Date & Time, I can toggle off Set Automatically. Then I can set the clock for any time I want.
All week long I acted as if there were a time zone called RRT (Regina Rodriguez-Martin Time). For example, the rest of my job search group got on a Zoom call on Thursday at 11 a.m. Central Time, but I got on at 11:30 a.m. RRT.
Sunday March 1 (tomorrow), I’ll change my clocks so they’re set 45 minutes ahead of the rest of the country. Living 45 minutes in the future will make the coming week tricky, but by the time we change our clocks on March 8, it will only be a 15-minute adjustment for me.
The Freedom to Do This
Of course, I’m between opportunities right now, so I’m home almost all day. This would be much harder if I were in an office with meetings and lunches scheduled. I probably won’t do this when I have various time-bound commitments all day long.
Paul Maguire @ Dreamstime.com
Quicker Hack
You can also do this: set your clocks 15 minutes earlier on each of the three nights leading up to the change date. Then you’re not out of sync with everyone else for as long.
So there’s an idea for people who hate losing that hour every spring, and who doesn’t? This way you don’t drag yourself out of bed when your body is certain it should get another hour of sleep, plus there’s a lot to be said for lowering your risk of ending up in the ER with a heart attack.
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