Ahead of the clocks springing forward on Sunday, research has shown that changing your alarm tone to songs like Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys and Close To Me by The Cure could help minimise grogginess after losing an hour of sleep.
This comes as a survey by Bensons for Beds found that the most wanted Mother’s Day gift is a lie-in (way ahead of flowers and chocolates), but since it coincides with Daylight Savings Time, it’ll be even harder to come by this year.
Dr Sophie Bostock, Resident Sleep Expert at Bensons for Beds, explains when a lie-in is good for you, plus five tips to make that lost hour of sleep feel less unpleasant — from changing your alarm tone to catching the sunset the night before:
“Waking up at the same time every day helps our internal circadian rhythms, or body clocks, to stay in sync. Consistent wake up times have been linked to better quality sleep, more energy and lower rates of heart disease. However, if a weekend lie-in is the only way to get enough hours of sleep, experts agree that it’s better to take advantage of the opportunity for catch up sleep than to keep building up a sleep debt.”
1. Bank extra sleep if you can:
On average in the UK, we lose more than an hour’s sleep on the weekend of the Spring clock change. Research shows that we cope better with sleep loss and recover more quickly if we’re well-rested in the first place. Sleep banking refers to deliberately getting extra sleep in the nights leading up to a sleep challenge.
2. Adjust bedtimes gradually:
You could lessen the impact of the clock change by shifting your sleep-wake pattern a few nights in advance. This strategy could be particularly helpful for teenagers, and anyone else who follows the sleep-wake pattern of a ‘night owl’. Night owls have a delayed internal clock which means they naturally want to go to sleep after midnight, and struggle to wake up before 9am. It can be particularly difficult for people with this chronotype to adjust to waking up an hour earlier in the mornings.
To ease the transition, shift your bedtime 20-30 minutes earlier for a few nights before the clock change… So, for example, if you usually go to bed at 11pm, and wake up at 7am:
- Thursday, bedtime 10:40pm, wake up at 6:40am
- Friday, bedtime 10:20pm, wake up at 6:20am
- Saturday, bedtime 10:00pm…
This means you’ll be better able wake up at 6am, which becomes 7am on the Sunday after the clock change. To feel sleepy earlier, try moving the time of your evening meal earlier, and dim the lights before bed.
3. Enjoy the sunset the night before:
While too much blue light exposure can disrupt your production of the sleep hormone, melatonin, the light from a sunset has the opposite effect. A 2020 study found that long wavelength orange and yellow light (typical of a sunset) can help your sleeping patterns because it “stimulat[es] the cone photoreceptor inputs to specific neurons in the eye that regulate circadian rhythms.”
Sunset on Saturday 29 March 2025 is around 6.30pm.
4. Swap a harsh alarm for a gentler wake-up:
You might assume that a shouty klaxon or beeping tones will improve morning alertness, but a 2020 study found that these non-melodic alarms have the opposite effect and can make you feel groggier for longer. More melodic alarms, whether that’s birdsong or gentle music (researchers suggested Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys or Close To Me by The Cure), can “help us transition into a waking state” more effectively.
5. Cuddling someone you love:
Cuddling releases oxytocin, a ‘happy hormone’, which can help you feel calm, relaxed, and better able to cope with stress — and this can all help with sleep.
