You don’t lose time only when the clocks change. You lose it every time you’re not fully there. Next week, the clocks go forward by one hour here in the UK.
I've been thinking about time.
You don’t lose time only when the clocks change. You lose it every time you’re not fully there.
Next week, the clocks go forward by one hour here in the UK. On paper, it’s just sixty minutes.
But that single hour doesn’t simply disappear from your calendar. It ripples through your biology.
Your sleep shifts. Your hormones lag behind. Your energy becomes less predictable. Your focus blurs.
What I see, year after year, is not just the loss of an hour. It’s the biological cost of that loss playing out across the days that follow. So let's prepare in advance.
Let’s dive in...
Where insight becomes impact
What I’ve been looking at this week…
There’s a reason one hour matters more than it should.
Your body runs on a circadian rhythm, controlled by a master clock in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. It synchronises everything:
cortisol to wake you
melatonin to sleep
insulin to manage glucose
even how your brain processes emotion and memory
And here’s what most people get wrong.
They think time is external. Calendar time.
But biologically, time is internal. It’s sensed through light, behaviour, temperature, and patterns.
We have two clocks - the external social clock and the internal body clock.
Andwhen the external clock shifts by one hour, your internal clock doesn’t instantly follow. This creates circadian misalignment. And it has measurable consequences.
A study in Current Biology showed that even a one-hour shift increases social jet lag, linked to metabolic dysfunction and weight gain (Roenneberg et al., PMID: 22578422)
Another study found a 24% increase in heart attacks on the Monday following the clock change on Sunday (PMID: 25332784).
But here’s the part I want you to really sit with.
When you look at the timeline of your life, time becomes more tangible.
You don’t have unlimited time with your children. Or your partner. Or your friends. Even though I'm aiming to get you to 114 years
And here’s what I’ve noticed. The moments you remember most are rarely the big ones. They are the ordinary ones. A walk. A conversation. Doing nothing at all. The story of your life doesn’t just happen in milestones. It happens in the hours between them.
And over time, the person you spend more and more time with is...yourself So take utmost care of YOU.
The reason I stay focused on living a longer life is simply to give myself more time. And to give you more time. Even just an hour of more time. And ideally a million hours of time.
Track it to hack it.
What I’ve been monitoring this week…
Here’s a question to ask yourself. What do you use to feel time?
Not manage it. Not optimise it. Feel it.
I realised something. I stopped wearing a watch. And interestingly, I’ve since become more intuitive.
My dogs don’t read clocks. Yet they know exactly when it’s time to eat, to walk, to rest.
They follow rhythm. . And I remember when I stepped into seven days of silence a few years ago without a clock, something shifted. I let the sun guide me. Light became my signal. Darkness became my cue. My awareness of time became internal again. More biological. Less digital. And recently, when I was speaking in Rwanda to a room full of highly ambitious business owners and executive, I gave everyone a simple tool.
A timer.
Not for productivity. For presence. Set it for:1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes. Not to rush. But to notice. To anchor. To feel the presence of time, rather than letting it disappear.
And here’s what I’ve found. When you become aware of time, you change how you experience it.)
From knowing to doing.
What this means for YOU…
So what do you do with all of this? You pre-program your biology for it. Here’s your protocol in preparation for the clock changes next week (and if you're in a part of the world where the clocks have already changed, save this for next year.)
The 4-Day Clock Shift Protocol (precision timing)
1. Day -4 to Day -1 (starting 4 days before the clock change) Sleep shift
Night 1: sleep 15 minutes earlier than usual
Night 2: sleep 30 minutes earlier
Night 3: sleep 45 minutes earlier
Night 4: sleep 60 minutes earlier
➡️ Wake time shifts forward by the same increments This is how you advance your circadian phase gradually, instead of forcing it overnight.
2. Every morning (from Day -4 onwards) Light timing
Within 20 minutes of waking
Get 5 minutes outdoor light (minimum 10000 lux, ideally daylight)
If cloudy: stay out 15 minutes
Why this matters: Morning light hits melanopsin receptors in your retina → signals the suprachiasmatic nucleus → shifts your entire hormonal cascade earlier. This is your master reset switch.
3. Meal timing (this is where most people get it wrong) Last meal
Finish eating 3 hours before sleep
Why: Melatonin begins rising ~2–3 hours before sleep. When melatonin is elevated, insulin secretion drops. Late eating = higher glucose + poorer sleep.
4. Evening light protocol (critical) Do the 8: 80
80 minutes before bedtime, turn screens off and keep lighting low lor use blue blockers
Why: Artificial light suppresses melatonin by up to 50%. You’re telling your brain it’s still daytime.
5. Pre-sleep nervous system reset Do the 6-60
60 minutes before bedtime, slow down your breating to 6 breaths a minute. 5
This increases vagal tone and reduces sympathetic activation. Think of this as lowering the volume of your nervous system before sleep.
6. "Just Time” protocol (presence training) Daily:
Set a 10-minute timer
No phone.
Just Walk. Talk. Sit or Stare.
Why this matters biologically: Repeated low-stimulation presence increases oxytocin and stabilises default mode network activity, improving emotional regulation and memory encoding.
This is how you feel your hours, not just fill them.
💼 Case in point: Gemma, 43, came to me after years of “doing everything right.” Early dinners. No late caffeine. Consistent bedtime. Yet she lay awake for over an hour every night. She thought: “I’m just not good at sleep.” We tested what most doctors don't - her melatonin timing. Her levels didn’t rise until 22:45. She was going to bed at 21:30. She wasn’t bad at sleeping. She was trying to sleep before her biology had started night mode. We shifted timing. Not supplements. Within 10 days: Sleep latency dropped from 75 minutes to 10. Energy stabilised. Night waking reduced. Same hours in bed. Completely different biology.
🎯 If you'd like to make decisions with precision based on your personal data and using devices that are specific for you, then book a private consultation and let's start to decode your health.
Where you’ll find me…
Last week: It's been a phenomenal week of speaking. I jet-setted across to Africa and in just 24 hours learnt so much about Rwandan culture and history whilst delivering a fantastic whole day seminar/workshop to some fabulous business and philanthropic minds - definitely need to make sure they protect their health like they do all their wealth assets! Then tback to London to The Hyatt with The Travel Sisterhood, bringing together travel, longevity, hospitality and sustainability in a very exciting way. And then at the beautiful Kensington Roof Gardens with Superoom talking about immunity and energy (I've put lots of lovely photos on my social media so do follow along)
This week: I have a vey exciting dinner lined up with Humanware and have been invited to The Business Leader Summit - be lovely to see you there
Next week: I'm back in Brighton at Grand Aesthetics - If you're local and wold like an in-person consultation do book in. Or why not come to the lunctime talk I'm doing on women's health. Book your place here.
A thought to pause on…
“One hour can disrupt your biology. But it can also wake you up to how you’re living the rest of them."
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead (that's 168 hours of your Million Hour life!! Dr Alka Be sure to send this email to anyone who you also want to live their longest, healthiest life!
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Longevity Lifestyle Concierge, 75 Harley Street, London, W1G 8QL, United Kingdom
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Take the free LQThis article is general education, not medical advice, and reading it does not create a doctor-patient relationship. If something has been going on for a while, please get it properly looked at by your own doctor.