I’m convinced daylight savings time is one of the worst inventions of man. In the immortal words of John Oliver, how is this still a thing?
Indeed every time the clock switches to or from daylight savings, I automatically rant about it on this blog, and heck yeah I will keep doing so until the powers at be get rid of it entirely. In California there’s a ballot measure up for a vote tomorrow allowing the legislature to either enact DST year round, or return to standard time, all the time. I’m fully ready to end friendships if I find out people did not vote ‘YES’ on proposition 7.
It is said that “fall back” - turning the clock back to standard time during Autumn - is physically easier to deal with than "spring forward” in March. The extra hour gained can be used productively, contrast to an hour lost in Spring inducing the equivalent of jet lag. From the experiences of yesterday however I would say that is not totally accurate.
Due to daylight savings time ending, this past Sunday was the longest day of the year if you count by hours - 25 of them. While most people implements the one hour into additional sleep time on Sunday morning, I elected to keep schedule as if the clock hasn’t changed, figuring it would be an antidote to whatever weirdness that typically manifests. Sadly, it wasn’t all that effective.
Yesterday I woke up at 7am (8am DST equivalent as I usually do) to go running, and for the rest of the day time felt like it was going super slowly. I went about my schedule as usual but every time I glanced at the clock it was much earlier in the day than what my body sensed in should be. It was so confused with the time discrepancy that at around 2pm I hit a wall: I was tired even though I’ve been doing the exact same tasks as the Sunday prior.
Can people be more productive with that one extra hour? It’s certainly possible, but for a regimented person like me, that one hour does more to discombobulate than assist. Next time - assuming DST is still on the books - I think I shall acquiesce to the new clock immediately instead of fighting to stay on the old one for one more day.
Though it wasn’t completely bad: I got the bonus hour of sleep today because I went to bed last night still in accords with daylight savings time. Preserving that hour for the day you have to go to work is much sweeter than a Sunday morning where you can choose to sleep in anyways.
Like the brush-strokes of an artist.