Fall Back

Which season is SF’s best? Fall, of course! Occasional sun ☀️, apples and pears at the farmers’ markets, kids back to school, and still plenty of time to sort out plans for the holidays . . . and our return to Standard Time.

Like it or not, we “Fall Back” after Halloween. Even though we regain the hour we lost in the Spring, many of us get tired and cranky for the first week after the time change. And we don’t like losing the sunlight so early, especially after a morbidly foggy summer. Although we’re technically able to get an extra hour’s sleep on the night of November 1st , many people still feel the disruption. The alarm goes off in the morning, and things just don’t feel right. And at night, when the clock now says it’s only 9:PM, we may already be tired.

On the positive side, we DO get an extra hour’s weekend time. And we can look at the time change as an opportunity for changing our sleep habits.
For you avowed night owls, this may be the only time of the year at which you can
easily inch your way into bed earlier. And for those of you who don’t sleep enough
either way, this is a perfect time to readjust your sleep habits.

Here’s how to take full advantage of the time change: on Sunday night, be mindful to get to bed an hour earlier than usual – the clock will give you an early time, but your body will already be tired. Then, be sure to get up at your usual “clock” time – and voila, you’ll have an extra hour’s sleep in your bank account. Nice, right?

But if even that doesn’t add up to the requisite eight hours, spend the following few weeks getting to bed 1-2 minutes earlier every night. The sun sets a minute or two earlier each evening during the fall, so your mind won’t even register this Stealth Attack on your sleep deficit.
In a few weeks, you’ll be waking up refreshed, and have so much more energy. What’s better than that? 😉

This post was written by a human being.