Today’s the day we fall back. Everybody says it’s the “good” one, because you get an extra hour of sleep. I don’t. I just wake up an hour earlier, wide awake, staring at the ceiling and unable to fall back asleep. My body has no idea the clocks changed, and it isn’t interested in hearing about it.
I hate daylight saving time. (And yes, it’s officially “daylight saving time,” not “savings.” Somehow even the name is annoying.)
It Messes With My Sleep#
Your body runs on an internal clock that follows the sun, not the one on the microwave. When the clocks jump an hour, your internal clock doesn’t. It takes days to catch up, and some people take a week or more.
For me, fall back means my body still thinks it’s 7:00 when the clock says 6:00. So I’m up at 6:00, and there’s no going back to sleep. Then by evening I’m tired an hour “early,” and it’s dark before dinner. Spring forward is even worse, because that one actually takes an hour away.
It’s Not Just Grogginess#
If it were only about being cranky for a week, I’d grumble and move on. But the research says the time changes come with real side effects:
- Heart attacks: A study presented at the American College of Cardiology in 2014 looked at hospital data from Michigan. It found heart attacks rose 25% on the Monday after we spring forward compared to other Mondays, and fell 21% on the Tuesday after we fall back. The total for the week didn’t change, which suggests the time change pushes people who are already at risk over the edge sooner.
- Fatal car crashes: A 2020 study in Current Biology analyzed more than 730,000 fatal crashes from 1996 to 2017. It found that fatal car crashes rise about 6% in the week after spring forward, which works out to roughly 28 extra deaths per year in the U.S. The effect was strongest in the morning and in the western parts of each time zone.
- Sleep and health overall: The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says the seasonal time changes are linked to risks to physical health, mental well-being, and public safety, and that the misalignment between our body clocks and the sun is the problem.
Compare That to a Gradual Change#
Here’s what gets me. Nature already changes the daylight on us gradually. Every day from summer to winter, sunrise comes a minute or two later and sunset a minute or two earlier. Our bodies handle that just fine because it happens slowly.
Then twice a year, we take all that gradual change and slam an hour onto it overnight. Sleep experts recommend easing into the switch by shifting your bedtime 15 or 20 minutes at a time in the days before. That’s good advice, and it tells you everything: the change is so rough on people that the recommended fix is to pretend it’s happening gradually.
So Why Haven’t We Fixed It?#
Because the politicians can’t decide which one to keep.
There are two choices. One is permanent standard time, which is what we switch to today. The other is permanent daylight saving time, which is what we use all summer. Both would end the clock changes.
Sleep experts mostly favor permanent standard time. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American Medical Association, and others say it lines up best with our natural body clocks. Permanent daylight saving time keeps the lighter summer evenings people like, but it means dark winter mornings. In the northern and western parts of time zones, the sun wouldn’t come up until 9:00 a.m. or later in the winter, and kids would be waiting for the school bus in the dark.
Congress keeps getting close and then stalling. In 2022, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, by unanimous consent, and it died in the House. This year, the House passed it 308-117 in July, and now it’s stuck in the Senate. Meanwhile, 19 states have passed laws to switch to year-round daylight saving time, but only if Congress allows it. Hawaii and most of Arizona have already opted out and stay on standard time all year.
So the states are waiting on Congress, the House is waiting on the Senate, and the rest of us are waiting for our alarm clocks to make sense again.
Just Pick One#
Just like everything else these days, opinions are divided. Morning people want standard time. Evening people want daylight saving time. Tourist areas, retailers, parents, farmers, and sleep doctors all have their own takes.
But here’s the thing almost everyone agrees on: we hate where we are right now. Switching back and forth twice a year is the worst of both worlds. At this point, I’d take either one.
Do something. Pick one and stop changing the clocks. Until then, I’ll be up before 5:00 tomorrow morning, wide awake and annoyed, with an extra hour to write blog posts about it.
Sources: American College of Cardiology: Daylight Saving Impacts the Timing of Heart Attacks, CU Boulder Today: Spring forward to daylight saving time brings surge in fatal car crashes, American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety, NBC News: House passes bill that would make daylight saving time permanent.
