Daylight saving time: Can gadgets help us get better sleep when the clock changes?

With the clocks set to spring forward, the question remains: do we need all of these gadgets to get some good shut eye?

Daylight saving time; it’s a decades-old tradition, albeit one many people are begrudgingly part of.

These days, it seems good sleep is trending, with sound machines, eye masks and even mouth tape on sale in stores everywhere and online.

With the clocks set to spring forward on Sunday, March 9, the question remains: do we need all of these gadgets to get some good shut eye?

Dr. Marie-Hélène Pennestri, Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Sleep at McGill University, says no.

Contrarily, she insists the key is to not rely on anything other than your body’s Circadian rhythm.

“We’re looking for an easy fix and easy solution instead of investing,” she said. “It costs nothing to have good sleep hygiene.”

Some of her tips: have a regular sleep schedule and prioritize rest over other activities – no more doom scrolling TikTok just before bed.

Additionally, Dr. Bruno da Costa, assistant professor with McGill University’s Faculty of Education, advises people to optimize their bedrooms for sleep.

“You want an environment that is quiet, or as quiet as possible, dark,” he said. “Even if you fall asleep, if the environment is lighter, it’s not very great for sleep.”

• READ MORE: Daylight savings can negatively affect worker productivity, research says

None of this information is new, he points out, but people are stubborn, so it requires reiterating.

“There is a big disconnection between our social clock now and our bodily clock now,” he said. “However, it is disrupting sleep in more than one way.”

In addition to the struggle to self-disciplining ourselves into good sleep, Pennestri adds the Canadian Sleep Society doesn’t encourage daylight saving time.

“The whole community of sleep researchers, we do not suggest changing time twice a year as we do,” she said. “There is no clear advantage of doing that in our modern society.”

All the same, there’s only one upside to the time change, she says – people are talking about the importance of sleep.

“Not sleeping enough or having bad sleep quality, there are impacts in the short term, right? I think, everyone knows that,” Pennestri said. “We hear that, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m not really patient today. I didn’t sleep well yesterday.’”

• READ MORE: Spring forward: When is the time change?

She notes irritability is the most obvious sign of a bad night’s sleep, but there are more dangerous long-term negative impacts of sleep deprivation.

“There will be consequences for your mental health and for your physical health, so that’s something we know now that we cannot ignore,” she said. “It’s a great investment. I know it’s maybe not sexy, it’s not cool, but it is an investment to prioritize your sleep.”

Da Costa adds if people don’t focus on their sleep now, they could end up paying in the long run.

“It’s going to decrease your attention, which may increase or lead to errors in your work, accidents, things like that,” he said. “It will affect your hunger, for example, and for prolonged periods of time, you can even affect your immune system.”

No more daylight saving?

Last October, the Quebec government launched a public consultation on the potential abolishment of daylight saving time.

“The results of the public consultation on daylight saving time are still being analyzed,” said Audrey Lepage, press attaché for Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who oversaw the discourse.

• READ MORE: Quebec launches public consultation on abolishing daylight saving time

At the time, the minister insisted changing the clocks had “important impacts on the lives of Quebecers,” causing a lack of concentration, irritability and fatigue, especially in children and teenagers.

Nevertheless, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) says it isn’t making any promises when it comes to a decision, and questions remain on whether the province would stick to winter or summer time.

If Quebec stays on standard (winter) time, the change would mean that at the summer solstice in Montreal, usually around June 21, the sun would rise at 4 a.m. and set at 7:45 p.m.

Quebecers had until Dec. 1, 2024, to take part in the public consultation, in the form of an online questionnaire.

With files from the Canadian Press.