Prepare yourself now to lose an hour of sleep early Sunday, as daylight saving time is set to begin March 8.
The start of daylight saving time, or “spring forward,” will allow more light in the evening throughout the spring, summer and early fall.
On Monday, March 2, sunset will occur at 6:35 p.m. in Atlanta. Next Monday, the sunny skies (hopefully!) will stay until 7:40 p.m.
Considering the difficult readjustment, you may wonder why we practice daylight saving time.
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If you live at the equator, day and night are equally 12 hours long. The more you move north or south, the more unequal it gets.
Daylight saving time happens to increase light in the evening during summer days. Arguments for the program are mainly economical and about energy conservation.
"Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used," wrote London builder William Willett in the pamphlet, "Waste of Daylight" in 1907.
In the United States, legislation was passed during World War I in 1918 to create standard time zones and establish daylight saving time. "An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States" the title read. Some parts of the nation do not observe daylight saving time.
The adoption of daylight saving time was inconsistently enforced in the United States.
According to webexhibits.org, one 35-mile bus route from Moundsville, West Virginia, and Steubenville, Ohio, went through seven time changes due to some areas observing daylight saving time and others keeping standard time. This was before the age of internet-time, too. Watches needed to be manually reset by hand then.
It took an official Committee for Time Uniformity and favorable media coverage by The New York Times to push legislation to make daylight saving time nationally enforced in 1966.
In 2007, the Energy Policy Act set daylight saving time to begin at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and end at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November.
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Even with the argued energy savings and sunlight optimization, it’s no fun to wake up in a brain fog Monday morning.
Dr. Phyllis Zee, the director for sleep medicine at Northwestern University, shares that the shift in sleep schedule can have adverse effects on our health, according to an article published by WWMT CBS 3.
"Heart attacks occur at a higher rate during that Monday morning and that week after daylight saving time. Productivity, brain fog, focus, these are all things you might notice at work the Monday after. ... Daylight saving time can impact your blood pressure, ability to fight off infections, productivity. It's important we keep our bodies in line with 'sun clocks.' " — Zee
To help adjust your circadian rhythm leading up to March 8, Zee recommends going to bed a little earlier every day.
"Start adjusting your bodies earlier than you think ,especially if you have young kids. Sleep is so important for growing children. An hour of sleep might not seem like much, but to their bodies, it is." — Zee
Bedtime can be difficult, too, because you likely will go to bed an hour later than normal.
"Get up if you cannot sleep: If you've been awake for more than 20 minutes, get up, go to another room, and do something relaxing to help you get drowsy, like read a book." — Zee
Exercising for at least 20 minutes can help you fall asleep more quickly when you need to get to bed an hour earlier than normal.
Following these tips will help you be ready to spring forward into the longer evenings of spring, which is just around the corner.
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