What to do with that extra hour when the clocks turn back this weekend

We're all busy, and we probably all have a long list of things we'd like to do with the extra hour we get when the clocks turn back for Daylight Savings Time this weekend.

It's a night-time weekend thing, so it probably won't be catching up on work. But wouldn't it be nice to spend a little extra time with some friends, let the kids stay up and play a game, maybe catch up on one more episode of whatever show you've been watching, or watch one of the later hockey games through to the end?

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Mental health consultant Mark Henick has another idea.

"When you get the opportunity for an extra hour of sleep, don't give that up. Don't stay up an hour later," Henick told CBC Prince Edward Island's Island Morning this week.

"We've got a great opportunity this weekend to give our mental health a little boost."

In the long term, sleep deprivation can make anxiety and depression worse. Even in the short term, sleep deprivation can make it more difficult to regulate your emotions.

Many people in Canada are chronically sleep deprived. Henick said your best use of that extra hour that the time change gives us every autumn is to sleep through it.

Some reminders

When the clocks change, fire officials recommend you also change the batteries in your smoke detectors. That way, you can make sure they are working when you need them.

The time change happens when your clock hits 2 a.m. local time. Smart phones will automatically flip the reading back to 1 a.m.

One other note: Summerside Electric has a planned power outage from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday. If your clock is plugged in, you might as well wait until the morning to change it.