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"Fall Back" for Daylight Saving Time!

Writer's picture: Clifton FullerClifton Fuller

The Times they are a-changing!

clock
The changing of the clocks is a gentle nudge to embrace the changing seasons.

Remember to change your clocks at 2 a.m this Saturday when you go to bed, or on Sunday morning, as daylight saving time arrives. In the autumn, the time "falls-back" one hour so we gain an hour of sleep. In the spring, we "spring forward". As the days "become shorter" (less daylight due to the change in the earth's tilt), and the darkness of the night lingers longer, rolling our clocks back an hour gives us more sunlight, even in the shortened day.


We have no control over nature, but we can control the hands on a clock and adjust its timing to match the change in daylight saving time. Many complain about daylight saving time, but it is mostly due to the adjustments we must make as we adjust our clocks and our body's reaction to the changes.

microwave
Daylight savings time: a reminder that even time needs a little adjustment every now and then.

Some phones automatically update to the correct time, but you may have to reset clocks in your home, business, or automobile. Double-check the clocks on stoves/ovens, refrigerators, radios, microwaves, battery or electric wall clocks, and maybe even your security system keypads.


Taking a quick look around to set any clocks you notice when you first wake up, get into your car, or open your office door will help make sure you are not late to work, school, church, or other events during the coming week.


pumpkin, clock, fall back
Daylight Savings Time on Sunday should always be followed by a national holiday on Monday.

Understand how daylight-saving time

impacts sleep, body, and mental health!


This concept initially was to save energy and money and to follow the sunlight cycles. People who worked 8 to 5 would have more light during working hours, particularly in the higher latitudes of the world; farmers whose day was determined by available light could manage crops and livestock during the light of the day. Schoolchildren would not be standing at bus stops in darkness.


What happens to us in daylight saving time?

sleepy man
When sleep patterns change, it impacts us physically, mentally, energy-levels, and emotionally.

Sleep is essential as it allows our bodies to rejuvenate, heal, and prepare for the coming day. If you have the luxury of going to bed at the same time each night and waking up at the same time each morning, you train your body to get into a rhythm. Some people need more sleep than others, but we all have an average amount of sleep that makes our bodies work more effectively. It's just how we're made. And sleep is necessary to heal and strengthen the body, as well as allowing our brains to disseminate information, reject or retain it, and store it through rem-sleep.


Some people adjust quickly to daylight saving time, while others may take several weeks to adjust. Parents may notice children's behaviors and energy levels change, as well as their own reactions physically and mentally.


brain clock
We gain an hour today. At my age, we appreciate any hour on the clock we can find.

Daylight saving time affects everyone differently. Twenty-eight percent (28%) of the population report a minor disruption in their life, and 13% report that daylight saving time creates a major disruption. (ProCon.org)


People who must change their working shifts as a part of their jobs may disrupt their sleep patterns and lose sleep. This reduces the amount of serotonin their brains produce and can lead to biological depression if the disruption lasts too long. By knocking us off our sleep patterns, there may be a price to pay for daylight saving time.


Disrupted sleep can lead to irritability, poor performance, and fatigue, decreased performance at work, or our ability to handle things at home in the effective patterns we usually follow. Actively planning ahead, rather than being reactive, to the changes coming from DST will help avoid many issues more easily.

students tired
Parents and teachers need to understand that daylight savings time will impact student's ability to focus and energy levels.

We might be able to get through this Sunday with a few yawns, but by Monday, we need to be prepared to get sleepy kids ready for school while we also get to work on time, prepared to tackle the day’s workload.


Plan wisely for this adjustment. Ease into the new pattern. Many families do this to help children adjust their school sleeping, eating, and schedules at the end of the summer, right before school begins. It helps decrease the disruption that daylight saving time has on you and your family.


When you “fall back,” you may not have to fight your children to get up in the mornings, and may have an issue trying to get them to go to bed an hour earlier in the evenings. Children and pets don't seem to understand daylight savings time has changed their "time to wake up" and "time for bed" routines, so be patient as they, and you, adjust to the time change!


Make a plan to enjoy that extra hour of sleep in the autumn when daylight saving time occurs!


Talking about adjusting to daylight saving time (in the spring and fall) and even educating your children about it, why it began, and how it impacts them, will give them insights into the process of DST, which they can share with other friends.

Man yawning
Hello Darkness, my old friend. Soon you’ll be here at 4pm.

More info:


Is Daylight Saving Time a form of time travel?


"Don't forget it's daylight-saving time. You spring forward, then you fall back." David Letterman

 

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