February can seem like anything but the shortest month as we yearn for spring and more daylight. Unfortunately, just as sunrise starts to come earlier, most of us will be plunged back into darkness when our clocks “spring forward” into daylight saving time.
According to Sleep Experts, Elimination of Daylight Saving Time Would Improve Our Health
The second Sunday of March, at 2 a.m., most of the United States will shift its clocks forward—costing us an hour of sleep—as part of daylight saving time. We will “fall back” an hour to standard time on the first Sunday in November. If you’ve ever wondered why we perform this ritual of springing forward and falling back, you’re not alone.
1. What Is Daylight Saving Time?
Daylight saving time did not originate in the U.S. According to an article on the U.S. Department of Defense website, “daylight saving time first became official on March 19, 1918, when the Standard Time Act was signed into law. It allowed for additional daylight hours to be added into the day to help save energy costs during World War I. The law also established the five time zones that we now know.” It lasted a year and a half before being repealed, following the end of the war.
In February 1942, in the midst of World War II, national daylight saving time was implemented once again “to help conserve fuel and ‘promote national security and defense,’ which is why it was nicknamed ‘war time.’ The time zones were even known as that: Eastern War Time, Pacific War Time, etc.” The national law was again repealed after the war.
To eliminate the confusion caused by the absence of national rules for daylight saving time, in 1966, Congress set a national standard time and established daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. Since legislation in 2005, daylight saving time has begun on the second Sunday of March and ended on the first Sunday of November.
2. What Locations Have Decided Against Observing Daylight Saving Time?
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) oversees both time zones and the observance of daylight saving time in the U.S. Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, States may opt out of the federal mandate of daylight saving time. Hawaii and Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation, which maintains DST as its territory extends into Utah and New Mexico, which observe DST) have done so, as have most U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico and Guam. According to The Council of State Governments, a number of other states have introduced legislation seeking a permanent switch to standard time.
States do not have the power, however, to choose permanent daylight saving time under the Uniform Time Act. Were Congress to pass a law allowing permanent daylight saving time, there are at least 20 states that would switch to year-round daylight saving time. Their arguments in favor of permanent daylight saving time include electricity savings, reduction in crime, more time for outdoor activities, and increased time for shopping.
Although permanent daylight saving time would eliminate the twice-yearly time shifts, it would not benefit our health, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and other sleep organizations. Often, the arguments against daylight saving time are connected to the time change as opposed to the effect of the time itself. The belated sunrise and sunsets during daylight saving time are the concern of sleep medicine doctors, including those associated with Save Standard Time, a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort in support of permanent standard time. That means the elimination of daylight saving time in its entirety.
3. Why Sleep Experts Would Eliminate Daylight Saving Time Entirely?
In a survey on the “Elimination of Seasonal Time Changes,” done in 2020, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found “63% of Americans say that they support the elimination of seasonal time changes (e.g. daylight saving time) in favor of a national, fixed, year-round time.” That number grows to 74% among parents with children between the ages of five and eighteen. This may reveal frustration with the time changes as opposed to frustration with daylight saving time itself, which is what sleep experts would like to eliminate.
Daylight saving time, in its entirety, has been opposed by many sleep experts The AASM issued a position statement, in 2020, “that these seasonal time changes should be abolished in favor of a fixed, national, year-round standard time.” In a press release dated January 27, 2025, the AASM noted the current administration’s desire to eliminate daylight saving time; however, it’s not necessarily clear whether the goal of the administration is the elimination of daylight saving time in its entirety or the elimination of the time changes that would be accomplished by a change to permanent daylight saving time. The mission of the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time (CpST), which is supported by the AASM and the National Sleep Foundation, among others, is to call “on policymakers to abolish seasonal time changes and adopt permanent standard time, which follows science and prioritizes health, safety, and efficiency.” They do not just seek the end of annual time changes but the elimination of daylight saving time, in its entirety.
The AASM asserts that “[s]tandard time aligns more closely with our body’s natural circadian rhythms, which regulate sleep-wake cycles.” According to the CpST, delaying sunrise/sunset through daylight saving time “increases the risk of depression, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and fatal car crashes.”
4. How Should We Prepare for Daylight Saving Time?
Unless and until daylight saving time is eliminated, most of us will continue to contend with the effects of the time changes. The CpST offers five tips for transitioning to daylight saving time to minimize the disruption for you and your family.
· Maintain a consistent sleep routine, betting at least seven hours of sleep before and after the change.
· Beginning a few nights before the change, shift your bedtime and waketime 15-20 minutes earlier each night.
· Adjust mealtimes or other daily routines that are “time cues” for your body.
· Set clocks ahead an hour before going to bed on Saturday, March 8.
· Get outside for early morning sunlight the week after the change to set your internal clock to the new time.
What do you think about eliminating daylight saving time?
Let us know by leaving a comment on our Instagram @downetc
Use your bedtime routine to prepare for springing ahead to daylight saving time.
-Team at down etc
Read more:
Do you Suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Bedtime Rituals for Better Sleep
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