Spring Forward: What It Means and How to Prepare

"Spring forward" is the common name for the start of daylight saving time, when clocks move one hour ahead — from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM on the second Sunday in March. In 2026, that's March 8.

The phrase exists as a memory aid alongside "fall back": spring the clocks forward in March, and let them fall back in November.

Losing an hour of sleep overnight shifts the body's internal clock out of sync with the new schedule, which is why the Monday after the spring change is consistently associated with more reported sleep disruption, lower alertness, and even a measurable uptick in minor accidents in some studies.

Because the change happens abruptly rather than gradually, the body doesn't get the usual few days to adjust that a long trip across time zones would allow.

Shifting bedtime 15–20 minutes earlier for the three or four nights before the change can soften the transition, since it spreads the one-hour adjustment out gradually instead of all at once.

Getting outside in daylight soon after waking on the days following the change helps reset the body's circadian rhythm faster than staying indoors.

Avoiding caffeine and screens late in the evening in the days around the change also reduces the odds of compounding the lost sleep with additional restlessness.

Beyond the clock itself, the spring change shifts sunrise and sunset both an hour later relative to the clock, which is why mornings feel darker for a few weeks even as the days are also naturally growing longer through spring on their own.

Any devices that don't sync automatically — car dashboards, ovens, standalone alarm clocks, some smart home hubs — need to be changed manually, which is why many people handle those before bed on the Saturday night rather than the morning of.

The effect fades within about a week for most people, though the exact adjustment period varies with age, existing sleep debt, and how much morning light exposure someone gets in the days immediately following the change.