Are you feeling overwhelmed? Do you often go to bed just wishing your day had an extra hour?

30-second read:

We gain an hour when the clocks go back
Our circadian rhythm means that our bodies will take some time to adjust to that new normal
Opportunity for a life hack! Use that week to gain an extra hour a day and retrain our bodies to ‘Win the Morning’

Do you go to bed some nights just wishing your day had 25 hours? What glories could you dream up with that precious hour? Cuddle up with your child to read a book? Meditate? Play a guilt-free hour of COD?

And if you could have an extra hour every
day – what then? Work on a secret project? Find a quiet hour to write that novel? Bake? Develop plans for your own start-up?

Fall back.

Well, once a year, it actually happens, thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time. When we switch back to our local Standard time, we effectively pick up an ‘extra’ hour in the day. Over the last few weeks of autumn, this ritual repeats from Vancouver to Ukraine, from Israel to the UK.

But did you tell your body that?

So 6am in DST on Saturday will be 7am in Standard time, 7am will be 8am and so on.

So what happens when your regular alarm goes off on Monday at 7am? Surprise! Most of us will have already been awake for an hour! That is thanks to our body’s circadian rhythm.

The Circadian rhythm is our internal body clock. Long before the invention of sundials and candle clocks, hour glasses and smart phone alarms, our ancestors set their routines in response to the rising and setting of the sun and the amount of daylight. And even though we have invented electricity and digital clocks, our physiology is still tied to those triggers.

Just ask the parent of 1-year-old on the Sunday
after the clocks go back! That child is going to rise when she did the week before and be hungry on that same routine regardless of what the clock says until her own body clock adjusts.

How to get an extra hour a day

Life hack / Time hack: Trick your mind to match your body clock

If you are looking for a productivity hack, most sources on the internet will suggest making the most of your morning. The idea is that when our minds are fresh, we can concentrate and are usually very productive – in effect turning one real hour into two hours of productivity.

“Win the Morning, win the Day” Tim Ferriss, 4-hour workweek

What? Wake up one hour earlier?

This is particularly difficult and challenging if you are a natural night-owl like me. I needed a boost – something to make that transition just a little easier.

So I layered a few techniques:

I started the process the week the clocks went back so that I could leverage my natural circadian rhythm to drive my waking hour – instead of my alarm clock. And I committed to wake up ‘early’ each day to give that extra hour.
I focused on a personally fulfilling task during that first half hour so that I would be motivated to get up and try it all again the next morning.
I went to sleep around my natural bedtime so that I did not rob myself of sleep.
Rinse, repeat. I tried my best to keep the pattern going. And when it didn’t, the gathering momentum on my pet project from previous days got me back up on the horse.

Want to read more? I detailed my plan as well as some useful apps in a post published November 2015: Bootstrap your time? A time hack to find an extra 5 hours per week.

Could it work for you?

Here are some underlying assumptions:

You get up at the same time each day

If your body clock usually has you getting up each day at the same time, sometimes seconds before your alarm clock, in anticipation, then you are an ideal candidate for this life hack!

Use your circadian rhythm to allow you to wake up on your regular cycle – feeling sufficiently rested because you went to sleep when you normally do.

You are so motivated – if only you were not also exhausted

Do not rob yourself of sleep. But take advantage of this week to, in effect, keep your body clock on Daylight Savings Time, while the rest of the world goes back to Standard time.

As you plan, be clear on the driving force for the task that will bring you more peace, control or satisfaction in your life.

And next spring, when we spring ahead? By then, the value of having invested an extra hour every morning for 4 months in your pet project or secret indulgence will be evident, and the habit will be set.

You just needed a nudge

If you are like me and spent more time googling ‘productivity hacks’ than being productive, this may be your nudge!

This week is an ideal time to make all this happen! It involves playing mind games, but the payback could be immense.

What will you do with your extra hour a day?

K‘}…{‘Arena

The Arena is a space for ideas and discussion. So over to you:

} .. Finish this sentence and post your answer. “If I had one extra hour a day I would ….”

} .. How do you ‘spend’ time?

} .. What is more valuable to you – time or money?

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INSPIRATION AND RESEARCH MATERIAL FOR THIS BLOG:

The Clocks go back this week!
My blog post Bootstrap your time? A time hack to find an extra 5 hours per week.
Time is not finite – it is a resource:
- ‘Playing’ with time – Sam Bennett (the Organized Artist) and author of “Get it Done” and “Start Right Where You Are”
- Expanding time – Melissa Lanz (the Fresh 20)
- GWALS Summit 2015
History of Daylight Savings Time:
- Daylight Savings Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time
- https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html
- Daylight savings time around the world
- Benjamin Franklin, Journal de Paris – where he came up with the concept of trading natural daylight for expensive night light
- First recorded implementation of Daylight Savings Time was in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada in 1908
Circadian Rhythm:
- Effects of Daylight Savings Time on your body CNN.com
- Reasons to hate the end of Daylight Savings Time National Post
- Circadian Rhythm, chronobiology, biological clocks NIGMS.nih.gov
Sleep:
- The Science of Sleep – JamesClear.com
- http://www.dalecarnegiewayindy.com/2013/03/18/how-to-add-one-hour-a-day-to-your-waking-life/
www.lifehacks.org
History of time keeping devices