Summer is the time when it seems like we can do it all—so why is it that we’re dragging instead of skipping through the longer days?
It could be that we’re off our circadian rhythm, so everything feels more difficult. Our circadian rhythm impacts sleep, metabolism, hormone levels, appetite and so much more: It’s a biological and highly individual pattern for waking and sleeping, and related activities.
Whether you live in Pacific Daylight Time or Eastern Daylight Time, your body’s systems respond to a 24-hour period, driven by a master clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus of the brain. That master clock determines the “usual” times you wake up, those times in the day when you find you get your best workouts, or the usual times you get hungry. And the rest of your organs—heart, brain, muscles and stomach—work with the timing of the SCN.
It’s no wonder you feel like you can’t get your “groove” in your day. But here are some ways to get control of the situation.