How to reset your sleep when the clocks fall back

The extra hour sounds like a gift until Monday, when you're wide awake at 5 a.m., the toddler is up even earlier, and the dog is staring at you for breakfast. Falling back is gentler than springing forward, but your body clock still has to move a full hour. A few small, planned shifts make the week much smoother.

Know when the change happens

In most of the US, daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when clocks go back to 1:00 a.m. Hawaii and most of Arizona don't change, and neither do Puerto Rico, Guam and the other US territories. Phones update on their own, but oven, car and wall clocks don't, so set them back on Saturday night before bed. Standard time then runs until clocks spring forward on March 14, 2027.

Shift bedtime in 15-minute steps

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests adjusting gradually over a few days rather than taking the whole hour at once. In the fall, that means going later, not earlier.

1. Start Wednesday or Thursday. Push bedtime and wake time about 15 minutes later each night.
2. Move the other cues too. Shift dinner and your evening routine by the same 15 minutes, since meal timing helps set your body clock.
3. By Saturday you're most of the way there. Sunday's new clock time will feel close to normal.
4. Protect your total sleep. Adults should aim for at least seven hours a night through the change, teens more.
5. Skip the late nap. A nap on Sunday afternoon makes it harder to fall asleep at the new bedtime.

The academy also notes the shift can affect sleep for about five to seven days, so go easy on yourself, and be extra careful driving that first Sunday and Monday.

You don't need to win the extra hour; you just need to move into it slowly.

Kids and pets

Young children and animals run on a clock that doesn't read the wall.

• Kids: Starting a few days ahead, push bedtime, meals and naps about 15 minutes later every day or two. Blackout curtains help with the bright early mornings. A simple clock that changes color at wake-up time teaches "not yet" without a debate.
• Dogs and cats: Move feeding and walks in the same 15-minute steps. A sudden one-hour jump in breakfast time is how you get the 5 a.m. wake-up call.
• Hold the line on mornings. If a child wakes early, keep the room dark and quiet until the usual wake time so the new schedule sticks.

Beat the dark-evening slump

Once clocks fall back, it can be dark before 5 p.m. in many places, and the early dusk drags energy and mood down.

• Get morning light fast. Step outside within an hour of waking, even when it's cloudy. Bright light is the strongest signal your body clock has.
• Take a daylight break. A 10-minute walk at lunch beats an hour under office lights.
• Light the evening, then dim it. Bright lights from dusk through dinner keep you from crashing at 7 p.m. Lower them and dim screens in the last hour before bed.
• Watch late caffeine and alcohol. Both make it harder to settle into the new schedule.

A short wind-down routine helps too. Our guide to journaling your day in sixty seconds is an easy one to add at the new bedtime.

If low mood lasts for weeks as the days shorten, mention it to a doctor. It's common and treatable.

Do the slow shift once and next spring's jump forward will feel a lot less like jet lag.