I'm with you, kswl, up since 4 am also.

It isn't just one night that the affects of the issue last. Apparently it can take people 3-4 days to adjust to the time. It is essentially a time change. If people on the west coast were to go from their PST city to a MST city not everyone adapts quickly even though it's only one hour. time change.

Our province voted 85% in favour of sticking to daylight savings years ago. We're just waiting for the western states to follow. Apparently it takes an act of congress to allow the change. (?).

Oh my word, I don't like any of the changes and neither does my 102 mother! Talk about problems. Do we really need to do this to our bodies and minds?

Hey, if you have a box for hate you need to have a box for LOVE, rather than like. I will take any disruption to my sleep that allows me more light at the end of the day. Bring it on! Or, just keep the clocks at this time year round. What a mood booster.

I would like it to be daylight savings time all year round. Like it staying light longer in the evening. In the morning you go to work or school if it is light or dark, but if it is lighter in the evening you are more likely to feel like doing something.

@jsk - " Because there is scientific evidence that teens need more sleep. Yes, they could go to bed earlier but try getting a teenager to do that! "

Actually teens need less sleep than younger children, but more than adults. The amount of sleep from infancy through adulthood goes from 16 hours a day to 7-9 hours a day.

There is also science based evidence that teens with parent-set bedtimes had earlier bedtimes, obtained more sleep, and experienced improved daytime wakefulness and less fatigue.

I was the youngest of 6 kids and the rule for those in high school was 10:00 bedtime on school nights. School started at 8. so we could reasonably sleep from 10-7 and get 9 hours of sleep and get to school on time. Our bedrooms did not have televisions or computers and there were no cell phones back then. We could lay in bed and read or we could lay in bed and sleep. Choice was ours, but you needed to be in bed by 10:00 and if my mom looked in after 10:30 and you were still reading she would have told us to put our book away and turn off the reading light.

The switch bothers me for a couple days and then I forget about it. I don't even remember which one is actually the "real" time.

You have to remember that the construct of a "standard time" is only 141 years old. (Nov 1883). Before that, pretty much every town had its own time, based upon the solar time and the most reliable well-known public clock. Only when intercity train travel became more common did this present a big problem, because they needed to formulate standard scheduling and not have things like a stop in one town departing at the same time as it arrived in the next town over.

I don’t like time changes in general.

@Jennifer Hogan Daylight savings time can actually impact health, and costs an estimated $411 billion in lost productivity and health care costs annually.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/daylight-saving-time-causes-lower-productivity-and-higher-health-care-costs-studies-say#:~:text=Every%20March%2C%20most%20Americans%20shift,deprived%20workers%20struggle%20to%20adjust.

While I prefer it to be light later, I get that this does not work well for every locale. My preference is to keep it as is or perhaps start schools later, better for teens sleep schedules too.

Actually teens need less sleep than younger children

Yes, you're correct. My memory is failing me!

I agree that parents setting a bedtime for teens works IF the teens go to sleep. My kids actually did go to sleep at a reasonable hour as teenagers. But I know for a fact my son's friends did not. They were up to all hours. Thankfully, my son was not one to follow the crowd. He could not care less what his peers thought.

Thank you Texanjana; we both posted that link but it’s up to the reader to actually click on the article to read and find out how and why the time changes negatively impact health. Some would rather chastise people for what they consider are simple complaints. 🤷‍♀️

Choice was ours, but you needed to be in bed by 10:00 and if my mom looked in after 10:30 and you were still reading she would have told us to put our book away and turn off the reading light.

Not to muddy the topic at hand, but I must be the only parent whose teens didn't always follow my instructions to the letter.

^^^^ LOL

LOL DLM, I am a member of your club.

I see that now, Kswl. I knew about some of those effects, but others I did not.

LOL, another member of the club. I also used to stay up late reading with a flashlight under the covers to evade my parents.

@ texanjana - The link you provided is the same article as @kswl.

First - the article is mostly about sleep deprivation/fatigue, and not related to daylight savings time. One weekend a year, one hour is not the main cause of chronic sleep deprivation.

"Investigations into the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster revealed that key decision-makers worked on little sleep, raising concerns that fatigue impaired their judgment. Similarly, in 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in a massive environmental catastrophe. The official investigation revealed the third mate, in charge of steering the ship, was running on too little sleep, among other problems."

" Chronic sleep deprivation does more than leave people tired. It costs an estimated $411 billion annually in lost productivity and health care costs. Poor sleep leads to workplace mistakes, car accidents and long-term health issues that strain businesses, families and the economy as a whole. "

The article goes on to talk about how Standard time aligns with the natural rhythm of the sun. Sunrise and Sunset times vary based on longitude, latitude and altitude. On a single day in the continental US sunrise varies by an hour and a half and sunset varies by 2 hours. The only way to have time follow the rhythm of the sun is by using a sundial. Length of daylight also changes from season to season and from north to south. To follow the natural rhythm of the sun in Alaska you may have to stay awake for several months followed by several months of sleep.

" Teenagers are the most sleep-deprived age group in the U.S. Multiple studies and surveys show that anywhere from 71 percent to 84 percent of high school students report getting insufficient sleep."

Another study shows only 17.5% of adolescents reported a parent-set bedtime as the main factor determining their bedtime on school nights. Compared to adolescents without parent-set bedtimes, those with parent-set bedtimes had earlier bedtimes, obtained more sleep, and experienced improved daytime wakefulness and less fatigue.

The article goes on to describe the issues of sleep deprived teens " Sleep-deprived teens have lower grades and test scores, more car crashes caused by drowsy driving, more alcohol and drug use and higher rates of depression, anxiety suicide and aggressive behavior, including carrying weapons."

So is the problem daylight savings time (1 hour lost, once per year)? How on earth is aggressive behavior including carrying weapons blamed on DST?

I don't disagree that Chronic sleep deprivation is a bad thing. For years I pushed like hell, working a high stress job and consistently getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night, often pulling all nighters to get projects done. I had a heart attack at age 57. I no longer pull all nighters and try to get 7 hours of sleep a night. My heart attack was the result of stress and lack of sleep, but it wasn't because once a year the clocks sprang forward and I lost one hour of sleep.

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No strong feelings against it

The abrupt shift to darkness in the morning is not my favorite, but I do enjoy the lighter evenings. It's fairly easy for me to get up in the dark, though. If we want to grill or if I want to workout after work on the deck, longer evenings just works better. Don't like when it's warm out but too dark to do anything.

You guys are not wrong. Many teens don't follow instructions, don't listen, rebel, test every limit . . .

Many very good parents struggle with one or more of their kids who become impossible as teens.

I apologize for making raising a teenager sound like it is as simple as setting boundaries.

I love mornings, with or without daylight, so getting up when it's dark due to Daylight Savings isn't any different to me than when it's winter. And it will gradually get lighter in the morning. It's not even the equinox yet.

I don't mind it, but I don't like that they moved it 2 weeks earlier and 2 weeks later. I really don't like getting up in the dark. Just as I'm starting to enjoy a little daylight in the morning, they change and it gets dark again. Ugh.

I'm surprised others don't seem to recall, as I do, that in the 70s they decided to do away with it and everyone so hated the result that we went back to switching. I wish people would as it could avoid us making the same mistake again.

I'm not a fan of DST. I look at the clock, and it's 10:00 pm? WTH? I should be asleep, but with the "extra light", I'm still going strong! I wish we just stayed on standard time. But, if there's a change, I hope it's one and done.

I haven‘t woken up in daylight in decades. so it doesnt matter to me. Currently, it 4:30 and I have been awake for 30 minutes.

Perhaps it’s a night owl vs early bird preference? I’m up at 6 and my favorite thing to do is watch the light change. I have the freedom to do so and I’m an early bird. However sunrise is not until 7:41 today, which is why I think this is ridiculous. DST used to start near the end of April. It doesn’t really lead to less use of energy, lighting these days is much more efficient. Agree with Annie, it starts too soon if it has to start at all.

In the 1970s they tried DST year round and that didn’t work out.

ker9. sunrise for you doesn't start until 7:41 today, but for some people it started an hour earlier than your sunrise and for others it won't rise for 30 minutes after you.

If someone likes early sunrise they should move to the very east end of their time zone. If someone likes long summer days they should move further north. If you don't want to change time zones move to Arizona or Hawaii.

If you love the town or city where you live either live with the rules that apply to your location or go to your state legislature and fight for your state to become the next state to stick with either Standard or Daylight Savings Time.

If it isn't worth the fight, maybe it isn't worth allowing yourself to be upset by the time change. Life is too short to let a one hour time change upset you for days.

LOL kitchenwitch. I've been on the receiving end of that same judgey look from a pet many times.

I found this online and thought it was well written. Florida really doesn’t need DST, we get plenty of sun, wish we were as smart as Arizona.

There is an easy way to think about this. A day (i.e. daylight) on the equator is always 12 hours long. The night is always 12 hours long. So, as you move north, a difference begins to be apparent. In summer, days become longer than 12 hours and in winter, days become shorter than 12 hours. The farther north you move, the bigger the difference. The northern states have longer summer days and shorter winter days than the southern states. If you go far enough north, you have summer days where the sun doesn't go down and winter days when it never comes up.
So hours of daylight vary less from season to season in Florida than they do in Vermont.
Sunset time is an additional factor not related to the total number of hours of daylight. If you are on the western side of your time zone the sun will go down later than if you are on the eastern side. At the latitude of the United States, time zones are very wide. If you are on the west side and can still see a bit of the sun, it has already completely long-since disppeared for those on the east side - even though the time on the clock is exactly the same for both of you.

I slept until 4am today! #winning

I despise ST as where I live in winter darkness can be as early as 4:30. My body seems to shut done some when it gets dark and I get tired and sleepy so early. DST is like the lifting of a shroud for me from which I physically feel the relief.

I'm in the southern half of Texas, so we don't benefit that much from the change either. Changing messes with me, especially in the fall. I just can't jump into darkness so quickly. I'd prefer not to keep changing.

@Allison….I slept longer this morning (until 5:30) with the help of various sleep aids, which I wish I did not need to use.

I still don't get this idea that you are waking up early. You lost an hour, didn't gain an hour.

At 6:30 am it was 5:30 am last week. If your body was used to getting up at 5:30 you should be waking naturally at 6:30, not 4:30.

If you have to get up early for work and you lost an hour on Saturday night you may have a harder time waking up Monday or Monday and Tuesday or may have some trouble going to sleep an hour earlier for a couple of nights.

If your retired and don't need to be up at a specific time, ignore the clocks and let your body rule your wake and sleep times. Unplug your clock or cover it so you don't see the time.

Jennifer, I agree that you don’t understand the problem. You should be very happy that you are not affected or inconvenienced in any way by semi-annual time changes.

It affects me, always has. I much prefer Standard time. I’ve been waking at 4 am, too, the past few days. It just never feels right in my body until we switch back.

My location is another reason I don’t like it — in the heat of summer, in triple digits and the relentless, searing sun week after week, month after month, I long for relief. For it to get dark. I celebrate gloomy, rainy days.

For those in different climates, I totally understand why you like the light being out longer, I felt the same when I lived way up north.

Jilly, Yes! Yes! YES! It gets so hot and humid in North Alabama. I cannot stand to grill or even set outside untill dark. I miss twilight so much.

I don't understand why losing an hour would cause you to wake up earlier - it does not make sense.

I do understand stress and insomnia. For much of my adult life I was driven to succeed and worked multiple jobs and high stress jobs and didn't / couldn't sleep.

At age 57 I had a major heart attack. 99% block of the widow maker. The doctors told me to change my lifestyle or die.

I had to learn not to let little things bother me, had to realize that I came to work looking for a job and if I didn't perform at 150% and they fired me, I would leave looking for a job.

I had to learn how to allow myself to go to sleep, how to turn off my brain and allow it to rest.

It wasn't easy, but when your given the choice between life or death, you do what you have to do.

A simple, one hour time change isn't worth getting so worked up about.

My goodness.

I am often awake at 2 or 3 a.m. and I try to go back to sleep even if it takes me two hours to fall back asleep. If the clock now says 4 a.m. instead of 3 a.m., that is close to my normal wake-up time of 5 a.m. so I won't try to go back to sleep. So maybe that is what some of the people here who typically have middle-of-the night wakefulness are experiencing with the time change.

Indigo Rose described my feelings perfectly -

DST is like the lifting of a shroud for me from which I physically feel the relief.

When I used to commute to work, it was dark in the morning when I left my house, and dark when I left the office at the end of the day. It was just so depressing. I felt like I never saw the sun except on weekends. Once it was light out when I left the office, it was such a relief.

I don't commute anymore, but I still hate that when I walk away from my laptop at the end of the day, it's totally dark out. Now I feel like I still have several hours of the day left.

I don't really see anyone getting "so worked up" about the time change. It affects some people more than others. I am mildly affected but like almost everyone, I adjust.

@Jennifer Hogan - I'm sorry you had such a major health issue and happy you have found ways to reduce stress. But you seem a little "dog with a bone" about this issue and your lack of understanding about why/how it affects others.

Job opportunities abound. Not only do we have Red/Blue/Swing state realtors we could also have Time Zone realtors who list and show based on preferences for morning or evening sun, of course sorted further by latitude. Just pick up and move. And when your needs change with retirement, move again. It's so simple.

that drip drip drip you hear is my sarcasm leaking out again

I would also like to point out that being affected to one degree or another by the time change is in no way the same as working very stressful job(s) that cause high levels of stress and sleepless nights that lead to major health issues.

I too don't understand how an hour time change can affect one's sleep so drastically, but I don't doubt that it does for some. And has nothing to do with their stress level. We're all different.

@Jennifer Hogan You don’t seem to grasp that any time change disrupts the circadian rhythm for many of us. For me, it’s not unlike travelling across time zones. It takes me time to adjust. You are fortunate that it doesn't bother you. I am retired, rarely set an alarm unless I have an early appointment.

I woke up at 3:45 am today, and took a sleep aid so that I could function today.

@Kswl It was after 3am for me today. I had a good 7 hours though. The feral cats were all on the front porch waiting for breakfast, so they were happy.

I had a doctor tell me that time changes are very hard on some people. Like most things, if you don't experience the disruption physically and mentally yourself, then it's hard to understand. I think we all can get that. But for some, it's a total upheaval and not a simple adjustment that is over quickly. It's always good to know that we're not alone, others feel the challenge and we can support each other through it. 

“It's always good to know that we're not alone, others feel the challenge and we can support each other through it.”

That’s the way I think of it Arapaho, although my mother (like many) characterizes such supportive commonality as ”misery loves company”— which to me is something else altogether🤔

I understand the misery loves company aspect Kswl - sometimes the only way is through and at least you know you aren't going through whatever it is alone. The aspect of 'I'm not the only one' is helpful to me because it feels like support, a shoulder to lean on from someone walking the same path. I hope you don't feel it's a way of minimizing the misery.

Not at all! It’s just that in the minds of some, ”misery loves company” is a negative spin on the situation and can be a way to simply dismiss it and ignore the misery, iykwim.

I definitely don't think I would like getting up so early that it is always dark outside. Not sure I could get to sleep if it were light out either???