“If you can get outside and get some daylight as early in the day as you can, that’s really important.
“Our brains have a master body clock inside them that controls the timing of lots of things in our body, and that clock uses daylight to reset itself each day.”
She said getting up an hour earlier on Monday morning would be tough.
“It’s important that we don’t go into that already having missed out on sleep, over the next couple of nights and through the weekend, it’s ideal to try and get at least the usual amount of sleep.
“Then you’re not going into the daylight saving change sleep deprived, as that will make Monday morning way harder.”
Aplin said people should anticipate that it would take about a week to get used to the shift in their sleep pattern.
“It’s only an hour so I would expect it would take a week to adjust your routine, I notice that I’m already adjusting to an earlier wake-up time because of those greater sunlight hours.”
Signal said on Monday morning people should be aware they were cutting back on sleep.
“We know from really big studies across thousands of people that the chances of having a car accident, or major health events like a heart attack or stroke, all go up after this daylight saving change.
“If you have to drive or are doing a job that is safety critical, you need to take extra care on Monday.”
Signal said getting enough good quality sleep was absolutely vital to everything humans do.
“It impacts almost everything you can think of: how well we function, how we feel, our mental and physical health, our ability to fight off colds and flu and our metabolic system.
“I know it doesn’t seem like much with the daylight saving change but it does make a difference.”
She said healthy sleep habits in general would help with adjusting to daylight saving.
“Having a regular bedtime and routine before bed helps your brain know it’s time for sleep, and trying wherever possible to put down technology before you go to bed to give your brain time to relax and unwind.
“If you go to bed and you’re really struggling to go to sleep don’t lie there feeling anxious and worried. If you can’t sleep after 30 minutes, get up and do a quiet activity such as listening to a podcast until you feel sleepy again.”
Fire and Emergency NZ community readiness and recovery adviser Justin Storey said daylight saving marked the perfect time to do a six-monthly check of smoke alarms in households.
“We recommend you have a working smoke alarm in each hallway, living area and bedroom.
“It’s a great time of year to test smoke alarms and give them a quick clean with the vacuum cleaner, get any dust or cobwebs out and change the batteries if needed.”
Storey said it was also important to think about the overall fire safety of your property.
“Also with summer coming, it’s worth thinking about what your section looks like, is it safe with outdoor fires?
“If you’re living rurally or you’ve got long grass, or you’ve got anything built up against your house, it’s a great time to have a look at what the next six months looks like and whether the outside of the property is safe as well as the inside.”
Family members or flatmates should discuss their three-step escape plan from the house in the event of a fire, he said.
“So that’s two clear pathways out of each room in the house and a safe meeting place. Typically, the letterbox is a safe meeting place in most scenarios, but that’s not always the case if people have long driveways.
“In the event of the smoke alarm going off, where does everyone meet and how are you going to get out of the house - because your normal entrance may be blocked by smoke or fire.”
Daylight saving will begin at 2am on Sunday, September 24.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
