SEATTLE — It’s that time of year to say goodbye to afternoon light, with the earliest sunset of the year expected Sunday at 4:49 p.m. and sunrise at 6:55 a.m.
Washington state will “fall back” to standard time on Sunday, when clocks are turned back one hour at 2 a.m., many going to bed Saturday night and getting an extra hour of sleep.
Who had the idea to change the clocks? It depends on who you ask
The creation of Daylight Saving Time (DST) is often credited to Benjamin Franklin, who first wrote about the idea in a letter to the editor of the Journal de Paris in 1784. Franklin merely suggested Parisians should wake up earlier to save money on lamp oil and candles, and more importantly, he wrote it as satire.
If you enjoy DST as we know it today, you can thank New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson, who presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1895 that proposed a two-hour shift forward in October and a two-hour shift back in March. Although there was interest in Hudson’s proposal, and he followed up on it with another article in 1898, the idea never came to fruition.
Fast forward to 1905, and a man named William Willett came up with the idea of moving the clocks forward in the summer to take advantage of the daylight in the mornings and lighter evenings. Willett’s idea was picked up by some lawmakers, who introduced legislation, but it was highly opposed, and Willett died in 1915 before his idea could become reality.
Clocks will shift around the U.S. early Sunday morning, but not everywhere. DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and most of Arizona, according to the U.S Department of Transportation.
Many people agree they do not like switching their clocks twice a year, whether they are springing forward or falling back. But the main argument appears to be whether permanent standard time is the answer.
So why do we even have DST to begin with? Here are a few facts about the time switch.
Washington isn’t the only state that wants to stop changing the clock
In the last few years, at least 19 states have either enacted legislation or passed resolutions to stick to DST year-round, but implementing this change would require an update to federal law, which goes back to the Uniform Time Act.
Under that law, states can either observe DST as currently practiced or stay on standard time year-round — meaning there’s no easy shortcut for those hoping for a permanent shift forward.
Everyone in western Washington will need to remember to set their clocks back an hour on Sunday, at 2 a.m.
It takes a toll on your health
Losing an hour of sleep each March can take a toll on your well-being, according to sleep experts. Studies have shown that the transition, particularly the “spring forward,” can have negative consequences on our well-being.
Even a one-hour shift can create a “mini jet lag,” affecting how our bodies function, according to a recent study by North Carolina’s largest academic health system. It can even affect pets!
Tips on how to help “fall back” into a healthy rhythm
- Gradually shift your bedtime and wake-up time by 10-15 minutes a few days before the clock change to ease the transition.
- Aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep during the transition period and beyond.
- Avoid strenuous tasks or long drives in the days immediately following the time change, when your focus and alertness may be compromised.
- Expose yourself to natural sunlight in the morning to help reset your internal clock. A 30-minute walk outside in the sunlight can have measurable effects.
