Daylight Saving Time: Why You're So Tired

It was only an hour of sleep that you “lost” Sunday morning to Daylight Saving starting—when clocks “spring ahead one hour—but the effects feel so extreme.

There are a few reasons for that, according to experts.

In addition to intending (but failing) to go to bed early Saturday night to ensure eight hours of sleep, many of us are waking up in the dark again to go to work. Daylight is a “principle time cue,” according to WebMD. To combat this, try to expose yourself to as much natural light as possible—take a walk in the afternoon if you have time and get out of your office and away from those fluorescent lights.

It’s not a coincidence that the Monday after the spring Daylight Saving time shift is National Napping Day, when U.S. residents are encouraged to take a short power nap in the afternoon.

There’s also an increased risk for car accidents (due to driving while tired) according to a study report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Another study suggests more people have heart attacks the Monday and Tuesday after the time change.

Russia ended its participation in Daylight Saving in 2011, believing it may cause “stress and illness.”

What are you doing with your “extra hour” of sunlight in the evenings?

Del Ray Patch Twitter followers had a lot of plans for the additional sunlight in the evenings.

Katie Wannan tweeted: "bbqing. The husband and I did our first grilled meal last night!"

Corinna Cohn tweeted that the extra sunlight makes her walk home from work more enjoyable.

"Walking home from Braddock Road after work again," she tweeted. "Safer while light out."

Others tweeted that Daylight Saving Time signifies a return to evening activities like cycling and jogging. 

On the Del Ray Patch Facebook page, Lisa S. Park-Gehrke agreed that the evening sunlight makes the walk home more enjoyable. 

Patty Moloney Figliola wrote that the sun allowed more time for gardening, while Blane Adcock said the adjustment to Daylight Saving Time is particularly difficult in his house. 

"Arguing with my small children about why they have to go to bed when it is still light outside," he wrote.