What’s the deal with Daylight Savings Time (DST)?

Spring is hopefully on its way and that means more daylight and general overall happiness to see the sunshine. This Saturday night, we will be “springing ahead” while adjusting the clocks an hour forward before heading to bed. What this means is that many people will feel groggy all of Sunday, be late for meetings Monday morning and will spend the following week tired while their bodies adjust to the new schedule.

Where does this idea come from? The closer you live to either the North or South poles, the number of daylight hours fluctuates with the seasons. Due to the Earth’s axis (tilt) we get winter days with less hours of daylight and summer days with more hours of daylight. Biologically these natural fluxes in daylight can affect our mood, stress levels and sleep patterns.

So why do we make it worse by changing our entire routine?

Daylight Savings Time (DST) was proposed in 1895 by a New-Zealand entomologist named George Vernon Hudson. After his normal shift-work job, he liked to collect insects, so he wrote a paper proposing daylight savings time to give him more sunny leisure time at the end of the day. Others around the world proposed similar ideas in 1905 and 1908, but it wasn’t until April 30th1916 that Germany implemented the first DST. The original use of DST was to save energy. The thought was that people would use less candles and/or electricity at night if there were more natural daylight at the end of the day. Great idea, but is it still applicable today?

There are many studies done on DST and its connections with increased or decreased motor vehicle accidents, work productivity, heart attack rates, all following the week after Daylight Savings Time starts. DST has also been adjusted and changed many times throughout history; some countries have started and stopped using it too. If you live in North America though, chances are you are going to turn your clocks ahead on Saturday. To prevent next week’s grogginess, try to rest and go to bed early. As cliché as it sounds, eating a healthy breakfast in the morning can help tell your body it’s morning and getting into that routine now can help you later; at least until November 1st when we “fall back” into normal standard time.