Shorter days may have an impact on your sleep schedule.
From now until December 22nd, we will be losing up to 3 minutes and eleven seconds of daylight, which is something our bodies may struggle adapting to
“As the days become darker and gloomier our melatonin becomes suppressed and it’s more difficult for our body regulate the circadian rhythm we all have, consequently we may be a little more drowsy during the day we may find it a little harder to go to sleep even more fatigued and tired at night and in general, we may not feel as rested. Pulmonary/Critical Care/Sleep Physician, Dr. James Osmanski said.
When our body decides to go to sleep is broken up into two different processes.
“The Homoeostatic rhythm says that the longer we’re up the easier it is to go to sleep and the circadian rhythm is that over about 24.2 hour period we’ll have more periods where we’re more alert and less alert throughout the day those two processes work together to help us go to sleep at night, and stay up during the day.” Dr. Osmanski stated
It’s better to consider what time you’ll be waking up in the morning rather than when you’ll be going to bed.
“Because wake-up time governs when we’ll be going to bed. So if my wake up time, for example, is 7 am so I should try and wake up at 7 am every day, regardless of time of year,” Dr. Osmanski said.
To make the most of your sleep. Dr. Osmanski recommends getting exercise, and also limiting caffeine and alcohol intake and limiting time on electronic readers and tablets like smartphones when it’s time for bed
