This Sunday, March 26, marks the beginning of British Summer Time as the clocks will go forward by one hour at 1am.
The start of Daylight Savings Time (DST), the clock change means that summer is well and truly on the way as the evenings will be longer and lighter as the days go on.
While this might be welcome news for many, the thought of losing an hour of sleep and therefore being more tired might be making some people concerned. To help with this, Betway has consulted some sleep experts to find out how to get into the best schedule before the clocks change.
It turns out there are a couple of things that shouldn't be done in the run-up to bedtime, and when you wake up in the morning.
Mattress Online’s sleep expert, James Wilson, says that we should avoid sleeping at our normal time when the clocks change.
He explained: "For many of us the biggest issue with the clocks changing is the stress it causes us. We need to put it in perspective when it comes to how it impacts our sleep timing.
"Most of us will lie in for longer than an hour every weekend, so the adjustment in wake-up time is not that great. The one thing I would say though is, on Sunday night don’t be rushing to bed to fall asleep at your normal time.
"As your normal time, that night was an hour earlier than yesterday. Go to bed when you are sleepy and try some of the self-care examples in the research to wind down before bed.
"Additionally, get natural light early in your day, this helps set your body clock and could help your body adjust to the change faster. For most of us after one or two nights we will have adjusted."
Although it may be tempting to take a long nap during the day if you do feel tired, this is best avoided as well according to sleep science coach Carlie Gasia from Sleepopolis.
She said: "Taking a short mid-day power nap (especially after a bad night’s sleep) can actually help you repay some of your sleep debt and speed up your recovery. A 15-20 minute nap around 2PM can give you a major boost in energy and improve your cognitive functioning, all while helping you avoid that groggy feeling afterwards."
The expert also suggested preparing for the clock change by going to bed 15-20 minutes earlier in the lead-up to Sunday, to allow your body to acclimate to the change.
Finally, Carlie suggested using the extra daylight to your advantage, saying: "Our bodies use light to tell our internal clock what time it is and our circadian rhythm when it’s time to be asleep or to be awake. If you maximize light in the morning and minimize light in the evening, your internal body clock will have a better chance to smoothly adjust to the time change."
No matter how early or late your go to sleep, it's vital that you have a good routine in place to help you get the best rest you can.
To help anyone who might be unsure what to do, Betway has conducted an experiment to reveal which activities you should be doing before bed to get the best night’s sleep possible.
Meditation ranks as the best activity to help you sleep, leading to an average sleep quality score of 88% and only 12 minutes spent awake during the night on average.
Doing a face mask before bed is the second-best activity for good sleep, with an average sleep score of 90% – the highest of all activities analysed.
However, the worst things you can do before bed included watching true crime documentaries or horror movies, so these are best avoided if you want to sleep soundly through the night.
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