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At 2 a.m., our clocks will spring forward to 3 a.m.

“This time of year, because we’re losing an hour of sleep, it really can have an impact on individuals, especially those who are sleep deprived,” said Emily Paris, an Ontario-based psychotherapist at , a virtual clinic specializing in sleep health.

She said about half of Canadians suffer from some kind of sleep disorder, and going through a time change can exacerbate such issues.

There are a few things people can do to minimize the impact of time change.

5 tips for a better sleep

Paris provided five easy things anyone can do before and after the upcoming time change.

Get enough sleep beforehand

“Getting full, restorative nights of sleep in the days leading up to the time change is going to help mitigate some of the negative effects of the time difference,” she said.

This is also helpful year-round.

Transition gradually

She suggested easing into the time change by moving up your bedtime by 15 to 30 minutes in the two to four days prior to the time change.

“This can help meet you in the middle of that hour and get you on the right timeline for when the time change comes,” she said.

Maximize light exposure

“Regular exposure to daylight, from the moment we wake up, can really regulate that biological clock that we all have, and when we’re practising this during the time change, it can really help us adjust,” she said.

Paris said our biological clocks are aligned with light exposure. In the daytime, it helps maintain our Circadian rhythm and helps us to stay awake. At night, when there isn’t much light, we get sleepy.

“When we’re well aligned with the rise of sunshine and exposure to natural light during the day, especially in the morning, it helps to resynchronize that biological clock every day, which is going to help us sleep better,” she said.

She added this is helpful for maintaining good sleep year-round as well.

Take short naps

She said some people may feel drowsy during the day for a few days following the time change, and that’s normal. A 20-minute nap can help regain some of that lost energy.

The sweet spot in our Circadian rhythm for naps is between noon and 3 p.m., she said. A 20-minute nap is great, and a 30- to 45-minute nap is fine too, but people should avoid naps longer than 45 minutes. Paris recommends setting an alarm clock to help.

“We just want to avoid taking long naps or naps that are too late in the day because we don’t want to affect the next night’s sleep,” she said.

Longer nap for shift workers

The fifth piece of advice is directed at people with atypical sleep schedules, such as shift workers on night shifts.

For this group, a longer nap would be helpful following a time change.

She recommends a nap of one to two hours prior to the start of the shift, and a 20-minute nap, if possible, during the shift. This short nap could be done during the person’s meal break.

Tips for families with children

Paris also has tips for families with children to help the young ones through the time change. Much of this advice is similar to the tips for adults, but with some tweaks.

She said children have a developing Circadian rhythm and can be more sensitive to the loss of an hour’s sleep.

Her tips are:

• An even more gradual transition to the new time is recommended. This could be getting your kids to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual and then another 15 minutes a few nights later until they’re caught up to the full hour.
• Ensure children get enough sleep ahead of time.
• Make sure children are exposed to light in the morning.
• Manage daytime fatigue with naps.
• Maintain a stable routine so kids should go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. This is useful for adults too.