Will you sleep an extra hour when standard time returns?

This weekend, millions of Americans will roll their clocks back one hour for the annual ritual of returning to Standard Time. As those Americans move their clocks back an hour, they will have the chance to wake up the morning of Sunday, November 2, 2008, having gotten an extra hour of sleep by “gaining” the extra hour.

The question that remains is: Will Americans use that extra hour to catch up on their sleep?

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), the answer is a resounding "probably not."

NSF’s 2008 Sleep in America poll found that nearly one-third of Americans (28 percent) said they were so sleepy during the day that the sleepiness interferes with their daily activities at least a few days a month. One in six (13 percent) people polled reported that this sleepiness impacts them a few days a week or more. Additionally, 63 percent said they are very likely to just accept their sleepiness and keep going, instead of making their sleep a priority.

“Many people have difficulties adjusting to the time change,” said David Cloud of the National Sleep Foundation.

“In the fall, early light exposure may cause people to wake earlier than planned. As a result, many Americans may experience increased daytime sleepiness as they adjust to the new schedule. This is an important time to remember to plan ahead to make healthy sleep a priority and reduce incidents of daytime drowsiness,” Cloud added.

NSF recommends these tips to help ease the adjustment to standard time:

• Maintain your regular bedtime Saturday night, when clocks move back, and awaken at your regular time on Sunday morning. This can give you an “extra” hour of sleep the next morning and help reduce your sleep debt;
• Block out light and keep your sleeping area dark. On Standard time, it seems as though the sun rises about an hour earlier. This can impact sleep, especially for people accustomed to awakening before or around sunrise. Sunlight itself can disturb sleep, so it is always best to sleep in a darkened room;
• Increase the light when you wake up. Light has an alerting affect that may help you wake up. It will also help adjust your biological clock to the “new” sleep schedule;
• Difficulty adjusting to the time change? Staying awake at night or sleeping until your desired wake-up time may be helped by gradually moving bedtime and awakening later by 15 minutes every one to two days.

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