DST Yipee!

I've been writing several pieces about the cold, cold winter and now to help us feel a little better, the clocks changed this Sunday, March 9, 2008. We spring forward by an hour though officially Spring is two weeks away. What this also means is that we lose an hour of sleep and we now see more sunlight. In the next couple of weeks we should see at least 12 hours of sunlight, when the sun does come out.

Daylight Savings Time (DST) is a concept that is used in the cold countries where the winters are long and there is limited sunlight. Studies have proved that DST is beneficial in helping people overcome the long depressing winter and exposure to sunlight makes them more productive. There is another school of thought which implies that DST benefits businesses with shoppers out longer in the summer months. DST also helps in energy conservation and that is why the Governments in North America chose to bring DST forward by two weeks. DST in the past, used to be the first Sunday in April while now DST will run from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

The sudden switch impacts people as the loss in an hour of sleep does take its toll on concentration and productivity at work. The first Monday after the DST switch is supposed to be recorded as the worst day for road accidents. It takes the average person about two to three days to come to terms with the switch. While the easy remedy for this, is to sleep an hour earlier the day that the DST switch happens, it is not the popular choice for all. I must admit that though my sleep patterns were regular when the switch happened, it did take me three days to adjust to the change.