On Sunday, November 3, Daylight Saving Time ends in North America. This means that the clock is moved back one hour, making the change between 1am and 2am twice. In theory, we get an extra hour that night and therefore the popular opinion is that people can sleep an extra hour. In practice, parents of young children and people with regular sleep schedules know that this is a myth. Lots of research shows that not everyone benefits from the time change in the fall. Changing the time by one hour impacts our sleeping and working habits. Here are three important factors to consider when preparing for or recovering from the time change.

Night owls versus early risers

The dangers of changing time, including lack of sleep and increase in workplace accidentsare more visible when we switch to daylight saving time in the spring. Anyway, a review of 16 studies conducted in 2013 reports that the end of daylight saving time also disrupts sleep. Dr Harrison, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, concludes that people wake up earlier and more often during the night after the clock goes back. The cumulative effects over at least five days or more result in a net loss of sleep which is not negligible.

Lack of sleep is probably felt by early risers, and less by night owls. People have different things chronotypes – evening types have a natural tendency to sleep later and wake up later, while morning types go to bed and wake up early. Turning back the clock fits a person’s evening schedule, because going to bed later is consistent with their biorhythm, and they also enjoy sleeping late. However, morning people wake up at the same biological time – someone who typically wakes up at 7 a.m. wakes up at 6 a.m. after the time change in the fall. If you do not adjust your bedtime accordingly, it will result in loss of sleep rather than a gain.

The strategy for beating the next time change therefore depends on your chronotype. If you’re a night owl, chances are you don’t think too much about the time change. Going to bed later and getting up later is in tune with your body’s preferred rhythm. However, if you’re an early riser, having an extra hour to sleep in the morning is less helpful. You will probably wake up early. To make the most of that extra hour, use it to get a head start at work, exercise, or any activity that makes you happy. Of course, using that extra time in the morning only works if you go to bed on time.

Children don’t read (social) clocks

Another deciding factor for your sleep is what your roommates are doing. If you have kids, they won’t mind the artificial time change that Benjamin Franklin invented in 1784. Their bodies tell them it’s time to wake up at the same biological time before and after the time change, regardless of what time the clock says. Sleeping in is therefore a pipe dream if your toddler is ready to play at 5:30 in the morning.

To facilitate the transition of toddlers, pediatricians advise adjusting bedtime in 15-minute increments. Starting on Friday before the time change can be helpful. Remember that Before On Sunday, you will want to put your child to bed 15 minutes later than usual (for example, 7:15 p.m. if bedtime is 7 p.m.). After With the time change, you’ll want to put them to bed earlier than usual (e.g., 6:30 p.m.) for the first few days, and gradually move bedtime back to 7 p.m. over five days.

Your body is ahead of your work schedule

Changing the clock by an hour also impacts your work week. At the end of daylight saving time, your body still has an hour ahead of your social calendar for about a week. This means your peak concentration hours are earlier than you think. For example, if you’re typically most alert between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m., this golden hour now begins as early as 9:00 a.m. This is good to know when planning focus times, meetings, or coffee chats.

You’ll also likely be hungry well before lunchtime in the week following the fall time change. At noon, your body thinks it’s 1 p.m. Because sensations of hunger can increase irritabilityIt may be helpful to bring an extra snack the first few days after DST ends. Likewise, getting to the end of the workday can be more difficult when you wake up early. Concentration and level of attention generally decrease during the daybut if you started your day an hour earlier, you feel more tired during the last hour of work.

It takes about five to seven days for most people to adjust to the new schedule. Keep this in mind when scheduling bedtimes and planning your work week. Although night owls are likely to be in their element quickly, early risers may need to be more vigilant and go to bed on time to make the most of the extra hour in the morning.