Daylight Saving Time Is Here: What To Do Thrive When The Clocks Spring Forward

Rob Shackelford Thu, March 5, 2026 at 11:38 AM UTC

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March is here, and it's time to spring forward. But daylight saving time can cause some negative impacts and take time to adjust to.

It is especially important to prepare if you have small children or pets, due to their very important sleep schedules.

The Week Before

Start by taking care of yourself the week before the time change. Try to get good nights of sleep leading up to the day itself. All-nighters before springing the clocks forward can make the days following the change pretty tough.

Make efforts to be in the sun and be as active as possible. Also, try to eat healthy. Save your desserts as a reward for making it through the time change.

The day before the change, try to limit excessive caffeine and alcohol so you can have less-impaired sleep. Also, try to limit time on the phone as bedtime approaches so that you are not overstimulated before bed.

Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesOnce The Clocks Change

If you are anything like me, you really don’t like getting up early. But as much as we may not be morning people, this is actually a really great step to take to help adjust.

If you wake up early after the clocks change and get at least 30 minutes of early morning sunshine on your face, it can help your body to adapt to the shift in sunlight as quickly as possible. This can hopefully lead to sleep not significantly impacted that night.

Our bodies are linked to experiencing light and dark consistently, so a sudden hour shift in the sunrise and a sudden longer day can be jarring to our circadian rhythm.

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What Is Going On In March

March is often known for drastic shifts in temperatures and severe weather, but it's also an important month in terms of sunshine in general.

The days are getting longer. We all know this. But by how much?

Well, March is the month that has the greatest increase in sunlight for us in the States.

You can see around 30 to 45 minutes more sunlight from March 1 to March 30 for those in the northern portions of the country. It is more like 15 to 30 minutes for those in the South.

Higher latitudes see more drastic changes in daylight due to the Earth’s tilt. Think of how parts of Alaska see constant darkness in winter.

Also, a fun fact for you: it takes about four to five weeks for the clock to read the same at sunrise as it did before the time change.

Bottom Line

These steps will not guarantee that you or those around you won’t struggle when the clocks spring forward, but they won’t hurt.

Here's the bottom line: give yourself, and those around you, grace the week after daylight saving time!

Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”