ABCNews had an article on Daylight Savings you can find here. Katie Moisse says, "For most people, the missing hour Sunday means a sleepy Monday. But for some -- particularly those who aren't big on mornings to begin with -- it takes a heavy toll on mood and productivity, earning blame for car accidents, workplace injuries and stock market dips."
One easy way to adjust your schedule by an hour (or however much you need adjust your schedule) is to go to bed and wake up 15 minutes earlier every day until you hit your mark. If you start tonight on Monday you will have adjusted your schedule by 45 minutes. It is unrealistic to try to make yourself go to sleep large chunks of time earlier and the next day you will suffer from it.
To help along this schedule shift as soon as you wake up, get in bright light. If you have a light therapy box, get to it. If you can, get outside. At the very least, get into as bright as light as you can for 10-20 minutes. This will subtly help your body clock.
Next, try to be in subdued lighting in the evening (a couple hours before bedtime). This while help trigger your pineal gland into releasing melatonin. Again, a subtle shift is best.
Moisse ends her article with "Taking a low-dose (less than 0.3 mg) of melatonin late in the afternoon Friday through Monday can help sync the sleep-wake and light-dark cycles. But be careful: Although melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement, it can cause drowsiness and interfere with other drugs."
I take melatonin when I'm travelling to help with jetlag. It really helps when I'm making large time zone leaps. I don't find that this supplement really assists as a daily supplement for insomnia. Again, my light therapy device is the only thing that has demonstrably assisted with early to bed, early to rise.
And while this isn't pertinent to spring ahead, it's something to look forward to:
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