WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — It’s time to turn your clocks back this weekend: daylight saving time is out, standard time is in.
Standard time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday and lasts until March 9, 2025.
The time change means darkness will arrive earlier in the evening, but it will be lighter earlier in the morning – you’ll also get an extra hour of sleep.
That can be a big adjustment for a lot of people, according to Dr. Richard Hoffman of the Sleeps Centers of Northern Virginia.
“The problem with shifting time schedules, particularly a one-hour shift backward, is our bodies are designed to easily shift forward, but have great difficulty shifting backward,” he said. “Strangely enough, pulling an all-nighter, forcing yourself to stay up and then going to bed at what is your goal sleep time, will get you back on schedule quicker than anything else.”
“Otherwise, use of light adjustment, trying to keep the lights low near bedtime or a bright light early in the morning – even if it’s still dark out – will get you adjusted quicker,” he added.
Hoffman said the change can affect people differently. Some people bounce right back, while others take time.
“When you turn [the clock] backward, it usually can take up to five days to get back on a regular schedule. That can be very variable. There are some people who adjust almost immediately. There are some people who can take more than a week to get adjusted,” he commented.
That springtime change can be tougher on your body. Darker mornings and lighter evenings can knock your internal body clock out of whack, making it harder to fall asleep on time for weeks or longer.
Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said the fall time change can cause younger children to crash before bedtime and wake up earlier than usual in the morning.
“It’s made worse by the fact that as we enter our teenage years, we’re actually on a normal shifted or circadian shifted sleep schedule called … delayed sleep phase syndrome. The normal teenager will want to stay up late and sleep in late if they were allowed to,” Dr. Hoffman said.
Two states — Arizona and Hawaii — don’t change and stay on standard time. Lawmakers occasionally propose getting rid of the time change altogether.
The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act, proposes making daylight saving time permanent. Health experts say the lawmakers have it backward — standard time should be made permanent.
