Come Sunday morning, not only will you have to adjust your clocks, you’ll also have to adjust your brain. The switch to daylight savings time at 2.a.m. on March 10 means we will lose one hour of sleep, hence one hour of daylight, meaning your brain will not get the exposure to bright light that it needs. "When you wake up and you still have to go to work or go to school, one or two hours in the dark, you feel sleepy, your brain will believe that you should be in bed,” said Dr, Sonia Meza, a sleep doctor. And this can have an impact on the road. According to Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), there's an increase in crashes on the Monday following daylight savings. This phenomenon is due to “driver fatigue,” said Brian Smiley of MPI. “Perhaps they're not paying attention to the roads, but the data is over a five year period so it shows a trend.” Sleep specialists say the people that will most likely feel the time change are those who tend to go to bed late and wake up late. To avoid this, sleep doctors say expose yourself to bright light first thing. Meza also suggests trying to go to bed at least 15 to 20 minutes earlier than you normally do to ensure you get enough sleep. Waking up at the same time every day will also help. Another trick is to take short naps – experts say the best are just 20 minutes long. The time change can be even more troublesome for children and teens, who can be affected for up to a week. Dr. Shelly Weiss, a pediatric sleep expert at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, said the best way for kids to adjust is to create a darker more sleep-conducive environment in the bedroom, even if it means removing electronic devices. With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Ina Sidhu and files from The Canadian Press
