Why Your Sleep Schedule Might Be Off Right Now + How To Get Back On Track

Earlier this month, daylight saving hit with a vengeance in the U.S., further messing with sleep schedules that have already been thrown off by COVID-19. Here's the thing: During these darker days (literally and metaphorically), experts stress that keeping a consistent sleep schedule is especially crucial.

"For many people, all of the anchors to their schedule have changed or disappeared, so it is important to recreate as many as possible at home," says board-certified sleep medicine researcher W. Christopher Winter, M.D., of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine and author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How To Fix It. "We need to rebuild these markers in our lives."

Your circadian rhythm is controlled by the release of substances like the hormone melatonin, which can make you feel sleepy, says functional medicine doctor Heather Moday, M.D.

There's a whole cascade that happens when you get out of your normal circadian rhythm. It affects your light/dark schedule, which can put your mealtime and exercise routine out of sync, too, says Winter. Basically, something as seemingly minor as going to bed whenever you feel like it can throw a lot of things in your life out of whack.

Changing up your bedtime can also make you feel more tired, even if you're sleeping in the next day. "When you alter a sleep schedule more than an hour difference, your body feels tired because your circadian rhythm has not been synced," says double-board-certified integrative medicine doctor Amy Shah, M.D.

But fatigue is only one thing you might deal with if your bedtime is all over the place. "Everything from our digestion, immune system activity, and hormones are regulated by our sleep-wake cycles," Moday says. Getting out of a good sleep rhythm when you're also stressed out (like most of the world is at this moment) can even increase your risk of getting sick, Moday points out. And that's really not something you want to mess with right now.

OK, sure, it's one thing to set a bedtime...but it's easier said than done to actually stick to it. One solution to make sleep more seamless: Natural sleep aids like magnesium.* Moday is a fan of adding mbg's sleep support+ to your bedtime routine, particularly because it can help you fall asleep, without feeling groggy in the morning.*

Again, setting an alarm can help. When you wake up, Moday recommends really waking up versus lounging in bed. "Immediately open the blinds, getting some bright light exposure," she says.