How to Get Your Sleep Ready for the Clocks Going Back

The clocks go back one hour at 2am on Sunday 25 October in the UK. In the US, daylight saving time ends at 2am on Sunday 1 November. Both countries repeat the pattern every year: the last Sunday of October for the UK, the first Sunday of November for the US.

You gain an hour on paper. Your body doesn't gain it so easily.

What the extra hour does to your body

Your body clock adjusts more slowly than your phone does. For the first few days, 7:00 on the new clock feels closer to 8:00 to your body. Many people wake earlier than they'd like, run out of steam in the afternoon, or feel sleepy early in the evening.

Move your sleep before the clocks move

The change is exactly 60 minutes, so the plan is simple maths. Shift your bedtime and wake time later by a small amount each night, so the final night lands on your usual times on the new clock.

3 nights: 20 minutes later each night

4 nights: 15 minutes later each night

6 nights: 10 minutes later each night

Here is a 4-night example for someone who usually sleeps at 10:30pm and wakes at 6:30am:

Night 1: bed at 10:45pm, wake at 6:45am

Night 2: bed at 11:00pm, wake at 7:00am

Night 3: bed at 11:15pm, wake at 7:15am

Night 4, the night of the change: bed at 11:30pm on the old clock. You wake at 6:30am on the new clock, which is your usual time.

If you're short on time, skip the steps. Keep your wake time steady on Sunday, get outside in daylight, and go to bed at your usual time on the new clock.

Children who wake early

If your child wakes at 6:00am, move the whole routine together: wake time, naps and bedtime. Steps of about 10 minutes over 6 days add up to the same 60 minutes.

Habits to ease the shift

Get outside in daylight soon after waking. Morning light helps anchor your body clock to the new schedule.

Stop caffeine earlier than usual. The NHS says caffeine's effects last up to 7 hours. In a small study of 12 healthy adults, 400 mg taken six hours before bed cut sleep time by more than an hour, and the participants did not notice.

Skip alcohol as a sleep aid. It tends to make sleep lighter later in the night.

Keep your wake time steady through the following weekend.

If you're still tired weeks later

The NHS advises seeing a doctor if you've been tired for a few weeks without a clear reason, or if tiredness affects your daily life. Long-lasting tiredness has many possible causes, including sleep quality, stress and low iron. This guide covers 12 of them: why you wake up tired after 8 hours of sleep.

A planner to do the maths

I built a free planner. It turns your usual bedtime and wake time into a night-by-night schedule, covers UK and US dates, has a child mode for early risers, and lets you download the plan to your calendar. Everything runs in your browser: the Clocks Go Back and Fall Back Sleep Planner.

I write about sleep, stress and adaptogens at Modern Vitality Hub.

This article is for information only and is not medical advice.