On Sunday October 6 at 2am, people in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT will move their clocks forward by 1 hour. Sunrise and sunset will be about an hour later than the day before, and there will be more light in the evening.

An hour doesn’t sound like much, but for some, daylight saving can bring on fatigue and leave them feeling like they have jet lag following a long flight.

It’s estimated that between one third and one half of all adults sleep poorly or don’t get enough sleep on most nights.

Spring forward with these daylight saving tips

Since you can’t escape it (unless you move to another state or territory), here are some handy tips from the Sleep Health Foundation to help you and your family cope with daylight saving — and get a good night’s sleep.

• Move your bedtime and waking time forward gradually in the days leading up to the start of daylight saving time. This should help you adjust to getting up earlier. Open the curtains or blinds in bedrooms as soon as you wake up.
• Have a healthy breakfast in a well-lit room to expose yourself to sunlight, as early as you can. This should help reset your body’s internal clock.
• If you can, in the morning spend some time outside in the sunlight. Better still, exercise outdoors in the morning.
• Aim for at least 7 hours’ sleep each night — more if you are aged under 20.
• Limit how much coffee or other caffeinated drinks you drink in the evening.
• Put your mobile phone or tablet away at least an hour before bed.

And look at the bright side: longer days mean more of an opportunity to be outdoors, playing or exercising. A study of more than 23,000 children worldwide found that daylight saving made a small but significant increase to the time kids spend being physically active.