How you feel about Daylight Saving Time probably depends on whether you are an early riser or a night owl. The leap forward will begin at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8, 2020 in most areas of the United States.

Obviously, changing the number on a clock doesn’t actually add any time to our days. That point was eloquently made in this old joke:

When told the reason for daylight saving time the Old Indian said,
‘Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.’

However, adding an hour of daylight onto the end of the day, after most of us have gotten out of work, can feel like a gift after a long winter of dark evenings. As the warmer spring weather arrives, nothing could be nicer than having more time in the evening to enjoy it.

Is Benjamin Franklin To Blame?
Ben Franklin is often credited for inventing the idea of Daylight Saving Time, due to his tounge in cheek letter to the Journal of Paris in 1784. However, Franklin seemed to understand the point of view of the Old Indian in the joke above. Rather than changing the clocks, he simply advised us to change our schedules to better align with nature with his tongue in cheek letter to the Journal of Paris

Will We Ever Do Away With DST?

Since Daylight Saving Time was introduced, lawmakers have, on occasion, seen fit to fiddle with it. This happened in the 70’s, during the oil crisis, and again several years ago. Since 2007, Daylight Saving Time got longer, beginning in March and ending in November, instead of April and October, respectively. But it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere any time soon.

Try These 5 Tips Now to Help You Adjust To The Time Change:

Get some sun! Allow sunlight into your room soon after you wake, to help “reset” your circadian rhythm.
Don’t drink caffeinated beverages after lunch.
Exercise in the morning, afternoon or early evening, but not close to bedtime.
Dim the lights indoors, an hour before bedtime. Make your bedroom as dark as possible.
Hit the hay early. During the days leading up to the time change, go to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier than usual, to help your body gradually adjust. If this isn’t possible, then make sure you don’t miss any sleep—no burning the midnight oil this week!

Remember, this is also a good time to change the batteries on your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.