Our Excuse to Go Cuckoo

     Twice each year we have the perfect excuse to go cuckoo.     
     To crash our cars. Or injure ourselves on the job. Or cyberloaf at work. Or develop a debilitating headache that lasts for weeks.
​     All these incidents increase when we go on or off Daylight Saving Time. That’s because when we reset our digital clocks, our internal clocks go haywire. Adjusting can take weeks because our circadian rhythm - the natural process that regulates the sleeping-waking cycle - doesn’t like to be messed with.     
     Daylight Saving Time was adopted during World War I and II to conserve energy. Perhaps we should consider dumping it now to conserve OUR energy. But until we do, I’m trying to trick my circadian clock and avoid falling apart by heeding the advice of experts to:     
     * Turn off all electronic screens an hour before I go to bed because they emit blue light, which suppresses melatonin and makes me think it’s still day.     
     * Avoid caffeine after lunchtime because it may cause me to lose a full hour of sleep.     
     *Ease into the time change by adjusting my bedtime by fifteen minutes over several nights.         
     *Stick with a set sleep schedule once I've eased into the time change.     
     *Nap if I need to, but avoid sleeping in the mornings and near bedtime, and never longer than thirty minutes.     
​     If I do these and I still go cuckoo, well, I guess then it’s my own dumb fault.