It’s time to “fall back” this weekend. Don’t forget like I did once and show up to church an hour late. (Doh!) You don’t want to be “that guy.” Trust me.
Technically, we’re supposed to set our clocks back one hour at 2am Sunday morning, which means most people will set their clocks back before they go to bed Saturday night.
Some people see this as fun because there’s a perception that we get to sleep in an extra hour. Others find it a nuisance because it messes up our sleep patterns.
Regardless how you feel about it, you don’t want to be one of the 27% of Americans who miss an appointment or meeting because of time changes.
If you’ve ever wondered why we have Daylight Saving Time, there’s a couple reasons.
Originally it goes back to America’s agricultural roots. Adding daylight hours meant more time to work in the fields.
Another reason is for safety’s sake. Fewer accidents happen during daylight hours. Therefore, we add an hour of daylight in the morning in winter and at night in summer to reduce the number of auto (and other) accidents. However, some argue the other direction, claiming that lost sleep is linked to increased risk of heart attacks.
There’s also an argument for dollars and cents. According to a 2008 Dept. of Energy study, U.S. electricity use was decreased by 0.5% for each day of the extended daylight saving time, resulting in a savings of 0.03% for the year. The savings are small, but they do add up.
Some people use fall back and spring forward as a natural reminder to change batteries in smoke detectors.
Some more fun facts:
- 2am is considered the least disruptive time of day. Ergo, the 2am rule.
- The idea is credited to Ben Franklin. But the name Daylight Saving Time was coined in 1907 by William Willett. Random note: William Willett is the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
- It’s commonly called Daylight Savings Time. (With an “s”.) But technically, it’s Daylight Saving Time.
- Arizona and Alaska have ditched the practice of Daylight Saving Time entirely. Other states have tried and failed. Looks like it will be around for a while.
