Day Light Saving Time Spring 2008

Remember that old saying? "Spring ahead and Fall back!" Well as the laws changed in 2007 your calenders may not be reminding you that instead of in April, it is time to "spring ahead" the clock an hour on March 9Th, 2008 at 2:00 a.m. local time. You know what that means. If you work or go to school and go to bed at your usual time on Sunday night, you are going to "lose" an hour of sleep before it is time to wake up. Look on the bright side though, (no pun intended) instead of being in that dull half-light of morning that can make even the simplest 7a.m. commute dangerous, you will now have more sunlight to see by. In fact, it is because of the extra help of sunlight that most of the states in America have adopted the use of Daylight Savings Time. According to a study put out by the United States Department of Transportation, we save about 1% on energy costs per day by applying this practice. This is because your average person is now awake after sunrise, rather than before, and by the time they go to bed, the gap in time from sunset to bedtime has also lessened. Meaning, with added light of the sun coming into your house during your "awake" hours, you are less likely to have your interior lights on. Same goes with your exterior lights. I know this all sounds nice perhaps from a financial stand point, but what about when it comes to losing that hour of precious sleep? There are many potential factors that can make this transition easier than just trying to go to bed an hour earlier and not being able to fall asleep on Sunday night. The following are some guidelines and reminders to help with the upcoming change.

-Don't wait until Sunday to put your new Spring Day Light Savings Time schedule into practice. Start on Friday and just try to go to bed a half hour earlier. Rather than midnight go to bed at 11:30p.m. Now on Saturday instead of waking at 8.am. set your alarm for 7:30a.m. Repeat this procedure Saturday night adding yet another half hour to the mix. So now you are going to bed at 11:00pm and waking on Sunday morning at 7:00a.m. Stay with that hour earlier bed time on Sunday night and your body should let you get your previous amount of sleep.

-It is not all about time. Remember we are on all sorts of schedules throughout the day besides when we go to bed and wake up. Think about breakfast, lunch and dinner. On Sunday try to get your last major meal for the day in your body at least an hour earlier than the day before. If it turns out long before bedtime you are absolutely starving, then consider a light snack of some fresh fruits.

-To help with the mindset of having to lose that hour, change all of your clocks a couple of hours before you go to bed rather than as you are going to bed or when you wake up the next day. This includes: alarm clock, wall clocks, watches, VCR, TV, computers, cellphones, automobile clocks. microwaves and any other time devices you can think of. I know it may seem like a bigger list than normal, but some of these devices were programmed before the law went into effect and unlike before, they will not change themselves on their own.

Using the tips above will help alleviate some of the issues with the springing ahead, but the best remedy of all is time itself.