It’s that time of year again.

We’re now just over two weeks away from the end of winter. More of the birds are singing outside, the sun is shining more brightly, higher in the sky, and the darkest days of the winter period seem almost behind us. That final step that will push us over the edge into the full swing of the new season is the changing of the clocks, which will happen on March 26th.

The "spring forward" clock change requires that one hour is effectively skipped. This often leaves us feeling quite disgruntled. While waking up at an ordinarily healthy 7 o’clock, our bodies will feel as though it is actually 6 o’clock. The only redeeming factor is that it will be on a Sunday, which is certainly the most forgiving day when it comes to a lie-in.

How can you make the clock-change easier to navigate?

Waking up an hour earlier than you normally would like can be quite uncomfortable for even the cheeriest of larks. It will feel totally unnatural at first. As a result, you may want to strategise, and plan the adjustment over a few days.

Rather than heaping the clock change onto your body in a single day, we highly recommend that you attempt to spread out the burden on your body throughout the week.

If you normally wake up at 7.30am, you can wake up twenty minutes earlier every other day until the Sunday of the clock change. On Monday you should wake up at 7.30, on Wednesday 7.10 and on Friday at 6.50. By doing this, you allow your body more time to get used to the differences in sunlight and can gradually ramp up the change in your morning routine. By Sunday, you can wake up at the new “7.30”, and hopefully your body will have already processed most of the uncomfortable adjustment.

What are the benefits of the spring clock change?

The spring clock change will put us back on British Summer Time. This is widely regarded as positive for a number of psychological symptoms such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Extra sunlight in the evenings will also improve our ability to see in the evenings and will allow those returning home after the working day a chance to enjoy the sunset.

The changing of the clocks certainly is a strange tradition, observed for just over one hundred years now. While many of us will regret that hour lost in bed, there are probably many more who would not do without that extra hour of sunlight in the evening. However you feel about it, don’t forget that the clock change will happen on the 26th of March.