Daylight Savings Time

There's an interesting debate happening now in the US, with potential global consequences, about daylight savings time - clocks springing forward in the spring and falling back in the fall (autumn). What's interesting about this is that instead of being partisan between right and left, it is partisan between people who think and people who do not.

Moving the clocks back and forward every year is one of the simplest and best ideas humanity has ever had. It is so good and so sensible that it's impossible for those of us alive today to imagine how humanity was ever united enough to agree to this.

But somehow, it's still controversial. And the reason it's controversial is very indicative of the deeply flawed ways humans made decisions.

With very few exceptions, most of us enjoy longer days. We prefer it to be bright when we're outside. In the summer, the extra hour in the evening is wonderful for outdoor activities of all kinds, from walking to sports to just sitting on the porch in the evening drinking a beer. It also makes it safer for many people who fear being out alone in the dark.

So, is it better to have an extra hour of daylight between 3 and 4 am (when we're all in bed) or between 9 and 10 pm (when we're mostly awake)? No honest person can argue that it's better that it be bright when we're asleep and dark when we're awake. Some parents might prefer earlier darkness for putting children to bed, as might some people who go to bed very early, but this is like thinking "I want what's good for me, and to hell with what everyone else needs."

But, some people argue, when the clocks go forward, that is very stressful. Don't tell me about it! As a night-owl, the Monday after the clocks go forward is indeed the worst day of the year. Statisticians quote increased heart-attacks and car-accidents in the day(s) immediately after this.

And all this is true. But this is where thinking comes in.

People look at this and say "therefore we should stop doing daylight savings time." And IMHO this is a perfect example of today's non-thinking "soundbite" mentality.

Let's instead think for a moment: If we have 6 months of daylight saving time in a year, that is 182 extra hours of day light. Almost 8 FULL DAYS of extra daylight, which we can enjoy.

And people want to give this up in order to prevent some excess stress some people feel for a few days. It is the wrong solution.

It's what you get when you have a brain that doesn't extend beyond "yes" and "no" as possible solutions. (in other words, it's the mentality that many of our politicians embrace - good vs bad, yes vs no, right vs wrong - all part of our zero-sum world).

If you actually think, you would quickly realise that, even if you totally accept that there are challenges with the spring-forward, they are far outweighed for the vast majority of people by the benefits of, again, let me repeat, EIGHT FULL DAYS of extra daylight.

So instead of saying "we should not do this", what we should be asking is "how can we minimise the negatives of the spring forward part?" It's not hard to make this mental switch. Once you do, there are so many easy, obvious solutions.

The first, which would apply to many jobs, would be to allow an hour of flex in working hours for the first week back. Let people adjust gradually, at their own pace).

Another might be a gradual 10 minutes/day adjustment for schools and jobs which don't have the flexibility. (Yes, it's a bit complicated - but again, a bit of complication vs EIGHT FULL DAYS of extra daylight - just deal with it).

Here is what I would do:

1. Clocks spring forward at 2:00 pm on a Friday. (so everyone works or goes to school for an hour less).
2. You have the full weekend to adjust your body clock, starting immediately when you leave the school / office on Friday. If you're one of those who struggles, start by eating and sleeping according to the new schedule on Friday, and adjust over the weekend. (again, one slightly less pleasant weekend vs EIGHT FULL DAYS of extra daylight - it's an absolute no-brainer).
3. Anybody whose job physically allows it (e.g. office workers, non-shift workers) gets flex to come in up to 1 hour late on the Monday).

None of this is hard. There are probably better ideas out there. There are probably arguments against the idea that I've thought up in about 30 seconds.

But the point is - it is far better to solve this problem than it is to give up all that extra daylight for half a year.

So, if you are in the small minority who just doesn't like the extra daylight, of course you are within your rights to oppose daylight savings time. But if your opposition is based on the impact of the sudden spring forward, just think more about it - do you really want to give up the huge benefits rather than find a good workaround??

And one more thing: for those of us who hate mornings, don't forget that wonderful Monday (well, as wonderful as a Monday can be) after the clocks fall back when you have an extra hour. A friend of a friend, once described it to me as her "little Christmas," and that has always stayed with me.

Now, the argument in the US today is slightly different, it's about keeping the hours of extra daylight, but having "daylight savings time" all year around - so avoiding the change. Personally I am less upset by this, but I think for people going to work or school in the dark mornings, it would be very depressing, although at least then they do get more daylight in the evenings, so it's not such an open-and-shut case.

However, again, my argument would be that we should not allow ourselves to focus on the challenges of that one difficult change, and instead should focus on what is best for all of us over the whole year.

Two final comments:

1. The focus on the negatives (one difficult adjustment) rather than the positives (6 months of improved quality of life) is sadly typical of the way we live our lives. For example, we increasingly judge people by the single worst thing they ever did or said, and that can outweigh a life of good deeds.
2. All of this daylight saving time debate should be irrelevant if we had our priorities right. There was a time when it was important to take advantage of daylight to work in fields and factories. But most people no longer have this limitation. So there is a certain absurdity to the fact that many of us spend exactly the hours of daylight inside offices or schools or factories. It is exactly backwards. Imagine a more enlightened world where we said that, at least during the winter, work and school would end at 2.00 pm, or start at noon, or take a 3 hour pause between noon at 3.00 pm - or something that would enable people to take advantage of the daylight.

On which topic, why I am sitting in front of my laptop inside when I could be outside going for a run ?? time to end this post ..

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-votes-make-daylight-saving-time-permanent-2026-07-14/