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Tag: daylight savings time

  • Permanent Daylight Savings Time Bill Passes Senate

    Permanent Daylight Savings Time Bill Passes Senate

    The US Senate has passed a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent, possibly bringing an end to the seasonal time changes so many dread.

    Daylight savings time (DST) has a long and complicated history, first being officially proposed in the late 1800s and gradually gaining traction in the 20th century. The idea behind the practice is to give people, and especially children, more time outdoors in the summer months. In the US, during the George W. Bush administration, the period of the year impacted by DST was extended in an effort to reduce power costs.

    Despite the benefits of the practice, bouncing back and forth between time zones twice a year is incredibly unpopular. Sleep patterns are disrupted during the shift, especially the shift to DST, and transportation schedules are often impacted. At the same time, farmers, broadcasters, and other industries are often opposed to DST, as their industries are more dependent on the natural daylight cycle, or standard time.

    Despite the controversy surrounding the practice, and the difficulties in ending it, the Sunshine Protection Act easily passed the Senate, according to Reuters.

    “I know this is not the most important issue confronting America, but it’s one of those issues where there’s a lot of agreement,” co-sponsor Marc Rubio said. “If we can get this passed, we don’t have to do this stupidity anymore.”

    “Pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come,” he added.

    It’s unclear if the bill will pass the House or be signed by President Biden. Many who support ending DST would prefer to see the US stay with standard time. Doing so would keep children from going to school in the dark, would preserve industries that rely on standard time, and would feel more natural to many.

  • Insomnia: Tips for Managing Sleep Problems Following Time Change

    Another Daylight Savings Time that caused us all to lose an hour of sleep on Saturday night no doubt led to many complaints of insomnia in the break room on Monday morning. The hour time change may have thrown many of us off our sleep schedules, but there are a few things you can do that may help you get back to your normal sleep cycle.

    According to Dr. Colleen Carney, most people will be able to adjust to the time change even “if they do nothing to compensate. That is, the deprivation will result in an increase in deep sleep the following night and in a day or two you will feel like you did previously.” If you don’t think you will be one of those people or want to make the adjustment more quickly, check out the tips below.

    Limit Caffeine and Alcohol Intake

    While it’s probably a no-brainer to skip out on coffee and soda a couple hours before you plan to go to sleep, any caffeine you consume after lunch can impact your ability fall asleep. To help matters–at least until you’re back on a regular sleep pattern–switch to decaffeinated tea and soda with your evening meal.

    Alcohol is another culprit that can affect your sleep quality. Even though alcohol is classified as a depressant and may very well help you fall asleep, it reportedly “prevents deeper stages of sleep and often causes you to awaken in the middle of the night.” If quality of sleep is important to you–and it should be, especially when you’re trying to adjust your sleep schedule–nix the nightcap.

    Exercise During the Day

    Exercise is often suggested to people who struggle with insomnia, and it could help a short-term sleep problem as well. According to the National Sleep Foundation, a “single exercise session found that a bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (e.g., walking) reduced the time it took to fall asleep and increased the length of sleep.” The study also found that “vigorous” aerobic exercises such as running didn’t help, so getting in a good 30-minute walk before you start your nighttime routine may be just what you need to get back on a regular sleep schedule.

    Try an Over-the-Counter Sleep Aid

    If you aren’t able to get back on a regular sleep schedule on your own after trying for a couple of days, you may want to try an over-the-counter (OTC) medication. While long-term use of OTC sleep aids can cause you to become dependent on them, using a sleep aid for a couple of nights could help you get back to normal. Some sleep aids such as Tylenol PM and ZZZQuil can leave you feeling groggy the next day, so you may want to give the hormone melatonin a try. According to Medline Plus, people often take melatonin to “adjust the body’s internal clock.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Daylight Savings Time: What Is It Really?

    Most of us know daylight savings time as the time when you have to set your clocks forward and lose an hour of sleep. Many of us wander around the day afterwards, wondering what time it really is and wishing we would have went to bed an hour earlier. While we all try to remember when it is, most of us don’t really know what it is or why we do it. Here is a little explanation of the practice.

    Daylight savings time was first established by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. In order to save on candles and get the most out of natural lights, Franklin proposed that everyone move their clocks forward to allow for the longer days in the summer and shorter ones in the evening.

    In 1966 the Uniform Time Act was established and daylight savings time or DST became uniform. It was also decided that DST would start at in April and end at the end of October. While the uniformity of the practice made it less complicated and many people feel that DST is a good idea, there are many others who find it a pain and originally tried to avoid it. It was decided that states could opt out of DST as long as the entire state went along with it.

    Currently, every state in the United States practices DST, except for Hawaii and Arizona. Other countries have refused to participate in it, including Russia and some Muslim countries.

    Regardless of whether you think DST is a handy practice or an annoying one, it will make the days seem longer and allow you to get more done in the daylight hours. Unfortunately, if you forget to set your clock forward Saturday night, you might find yourself running late on Sunday. Remember to go to bed an hour early so you don’t lose that precious 60 minutes of sleep.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Daylight Saving Time Fall Forward Whose Idea was It?

    Daylight saving time ends on this upcoming Sunday November 3rd at 2 a.m. It only takes a few seconds to set personal clocks back to anticipate the time change. Many people loath when the time changes due to the problems it causes during the following work week. There is always that one person in the office or within a personal circle of friends who will be late to work or an upcoming social event because the simply forgot to adjust their time.

    Throughout history, several civilizations have recorded adjustments in their schedule to be in tune with the sun during the day. Benjamin Franklin while traveling in Paris decided to expound upon the idea of getting more time during the day. He wrote an essay entitled, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” that discussed saving on candle use by getting up earlier and using the sunlight. Some people credit Franklin with the discovery and others lean towards a New Zealand astronomer and entomologist named George Vernon Hudson. He wrote a paper about moving time forward two hours in October and back two hours in March. This paper was submitted to the Wellington Philosophical Society, even though he did more research and another article nothing was ever enacted upon.

    William Willetts idea of moving time forward during the summer by twenty minutes in April on Sunday, and reversing the time in September was seen as important by Robert Pierce. Pierce persuaded the House of Commons through a new bill that was not approved or turned into a statute before his death. Daylight saving time was used heavily during both WWI and WWII to save on costs for fuel and lighting. A great deal of confusion lasted throughout the years for service industries that operated on tight schedules. Trains and media outlets were not able to follow the time changes well. Modern daylight savings time was made into law through the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

    This gave uniformity to the times changed, but states still have the opportunity to not participate. People who live in Arizona do not have to worry about setting their clocks back, due to it not being used within the state.

     


    Image via Thinkstockphoto

  • What Time Is It? Daylight Savings Time Causes Chaos

    No matter how many times the media reminds us to set our clocks forward or back, there is always someone that either shows up late for work the next day, or wakes up an hour earlier and then drifts back to sleep thinking that they have time on their side. Either way, the premise of “springing forward and falling back” can be a challenge to the public. When we hear on TV or the radio “Remember to set your clock back/forward,” we always think about it, but always forget to do it before our heads hit the pillow. Although, if you depend on the time from your cellular phone, it should update automatically from the tower (if you have it set to automatically sync).

    Are you unsure of what the current time is and not wearing a watch? I have provided a few sites below that will check to see the current time where you are, along with various other regions around the world.

    There have been many reactions on Twitter to the recent DST change and I have provided some responses below:

    (image)@JimGaffigan
    Jim Gaffigan    Daylight Savings makes us lose an hour. It’s just like checking Twitter.(image) 1 day ago via WhoSay ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@VDOOZER
    Bill Lawrence    Wow, I am not down with waking up while it’s still pitch black out. Daylight savings is for dorks.(image) 7 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@biggayicecream
    Big Gay Ice Cream    Remember when we physically wound clocks backward and forward twice a year for daylight savings? Rough times. Kids today have it easy.(image) 7 hours ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@ZooeyDeschanel
    zooey deschanel    Dear daylight savings, please give me my hour back, I was particularly fond of that one and I don’t want to wait ’til October to get it back(image) 1 day ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@JackBox
    Jack Box     If Daylight Savings means we lose an hour of sleep I think we deserve an extra breakfast. Anybody?(image) 1 day ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@yoda
    Yoda    Confused by Daylight Savings Time I am. Lose an hour of sleep we did. Woken up an hour earlier we were. Losers we all turned out to be.(image) 1 day ago via Seesmic ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@WatchJ
    JBreezy The Poet    If they moved Daylight Savings Time to 4pm on Monday afternoon so everybody got off work 1 hour earlier…it would get more love(image) 1 day ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    How has DST affected you? Please be sure to leave your response below in this post’s comments section.