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Daylight saving time: 10 tips to make it easier

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March 11, 2023

Woman wakes up and stretches with alarm clock by bed. — Daylight saving time (DST) begins at 2 a.m. on March 12, 2023. Image via Miriam Alonso/ Pexels.

Daylight saving time begins

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 12, 2023, clocks in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces will leap forward one hour. Daylight saving time (DST) begins for many of us! It will end on November 5. The memory tool for your clocks is spring forward. Easy to do with clocks. Less easy – for many – with our own bodies. We hear that the number of car crashes increases with the start of daylight saving time. More people have heart attacks. Many report feeling groggy or off-kilter in the week following. Here are some tips that might help.

1. Set your morning alarm for 30 minutes earlier Sunday.

2. Eat some good breakfasts this week!

3. Get some sunlight.

4. Keep up your exercise schedule.

5. Drink extra water, and limit caffeine, alcohol and sugar.

6. Manage your stress with whatever stress-busting techniques work for you.

7. Go to sleep a few minutes earlier.

8. Sleep in complete darkness, in a not-too-warm room.

9. Get up at your usual time, no matter what the sunrise is doing.

10. Don’t think in terms of what time it really is. As your alarm goes off at 6 a.m. Monday morning, try not to think it’s really only 5 a.m. Good luck!

Daylight saving time: Map of the world with some countries colored in blue, dark grey and orange. — View larger. | Dark gray places have never used DST, light gray places formerly used it. Orange places use DST in the Southern Hemisphere summer. Blue places use DST in the Northern Hemisphere summer. Image via Wikipedia.

The inventor of DST

Victorian-looking man with a mustache and flat cap. — Don’t like daylight saving time? Blame New Zealand entomologist G.V. Hudson. He 1st proposed a system resembling our modern one to the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1895. He valued those extra daylight hours after work as a time to gather insects. Be glad we didn’t use Hudson’s original proposal for a 2-hour leap! Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: Daylight saving time in the U.S. and Canada begins March 12, 2023. Here are some suggestions for coping with the time change.

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March 11, 2023

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Human World

Deborah Byrd

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About the Author:

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.