As you may already know, Daylight Savings is kicking in once again this weekend. Officially, the clocks across the U.S. will spring forward one hour starting at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8th.
While we're all familiar with this bi-annual occurrence, you may not know why this change happens or what it actually means for us. And you probably aren't aware of the negative consequences caused by the time change.
Before we dive into the bad stuff and how you can prepare for the upcoming side-effects, let's cover a few interesting facts about Daylight Savings Time:
Back in 1784, inventor Benjamin Franklin first proposed the idea of adjusting the clocks to preserve daylight hours. His essay titled "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light" was very influential to creating Daylight Savings Time.
His logic behind the idea was that preserving daylight hours would require fewer candles and other, more expensive forms of light.
Surprisingly, there is no official authority in charge of managing Daylight Sayings Times. Therefore, some places (like Hawaii, Arizona, and Puerto Rico), choose not to participate at all!
Additionally, some countries have entirely different dates to spring forward and fall back. This can make international travel quite confusing at times, creating uneven time zones depending on where you are.
While Daylight Savings Time has been great historically for daylight productivity, it has also benefited many different types of businesses.
After extending Daylight Savings Time in 1986, the barbecue industry saw an increase in sales of $100 million! Longer days of daylight have also been connected to an increase in shopping and a general stimulation of the economy.
However, industries reliant on time restraints (TV networks, in particular), are not too fond of sudden time changes in their schedules.
This leads us into the numerous problems caused by the bi-annual time change...
A study by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2008 found that extending daylight hours through Daylight Savings Time actually has very little effect on energy consumption.
Over the course of an entire year, only about 0.3% less energy is used due to the practice of Daylight Savings. If not to save energy, then what is the point anymore?
The week following Daylight Savings has been reported to adversely affect many people across the country.
Losing an hour of sleep leading into a new work week has been linked to a decrease in productivity, SAT scores, and health.
The sleep deprivation has also been linked to an increase in car accidents, headaches and other health-related issues.
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Lifetones Sleep Support is an all-natural sedative that can help combat the negative side-effects of Daylight Savings Time. And, for a limited time, you can save $10.00 on your purchase!