On November 5, daylight saving time (DST) will conclude, pushing us back one hour at 2 a.m. But what exactly is DST, and where did it come from?
We can attribute the seasonal time shift to Benjamin Franklin, who thought of the idea during his Paris ambassadorship. However, DST didn’t become popular until World War I, when the United States promoted the time change in an effort to conserve energy. After the war ended, saving energy was less of a necessity and the change lost its momentum.
Daylight saving was repurposed during WWII. After it ended, U.S. towns were given rights to observe or abandon DST. This resulted in conflicting systems of time and prompted Congress to enact the Uniform Time Act of 1966, stating that DST would begin the first Sunday of April and end the last Sunday of October.
So in the fall we adjust our clocks back and, consequently, it becomes dark an hour earlier. This change can affect our daily schedules, such as when we go to sleep, eat, work, or even drive.
Although DST seems like an annoyance to your routine, the adjustment can impact your health in positive and negative ways. Sleep deprivation is often a result of working against our natural clocks during DST, so it’s often difficult to adjust schedules.
To prevent a significant disruption to your daily routine, here are four methods to cope with the upcoming time change:
- Change your sleep schedule. Gradually adjust your sleep routine by 10 to 15 minutes earlier than usual.
- Maintain a consistent bedtime. Maintain regular routines to avoid large adjustments in your schedule, including eating, social, bed, and exercise times.
- Develop a nighttime ritual. Avoid stimulating activities to adjust your body to slowing down. Consuming food and beverages can disrupt your sleep, and electronic screens hinder the production of melatonin, your sleep hormone.
- Avoid naps. Your body’s sleep schedule is interrupted when you take away its drive to sleep during the night. Don’t sleep during the day so you can increase your ability to fall asleep in the evening. If necessary, keep it short: 15- to 20-minute power naps re-energize your body without ruining your nighttime schedule.