As daylight savings time approaches on March 9th, society starts to prepare to adjust their daily routine as the time is pushed back by one hour. This shift in schedule can effect people a lot as they adjust from their Winter schedules into the Spring.
The time change during daylight saving can have an understandable impact on mental health. Many people find that the shift in daylight hours can affect stress levels, usually feeling more stressed as the body has to get used to the new schedule. Daylight savings time can increase symptoms of anxiety and depression for most, as the interruption in sunlight can have an impact on mood and emotional well-being. The change in daylight hours is most known for affecting daily productivity with most people in society finding it harder to keep up with what they’re used to. Mia Ramirez, 11, her mood will change when daylight savings time starts.
“I feel like my mood will change because as we’re losing an hour, I feel like you’re losing an hour of sleep, and it’s just you know everything’s gonna be changed, and I go by hourly, so that’s gonna change in a negative way for me but I also like to have a shorter day. I’ll feel more pressure to finish everything and to get all of my personal business done and my school business, so it can be really challenging. I feel like it can affect anxiety because you’re so focused on what they’re losing and so then they’re more focused on what they can do to prevent that, and you can’t really prevent this,” said Rameriz.
The shift to daylight savings time can have a huge effect on sleep schedules. Many people find it more difficult to fall asleep or wake up after the time change due to the one-hour shift, this change will usually lead to mood swings such as: crankiness, irritation, lack of concentration, and more making it harder to keep up with your daily routine before daylight saving time. Jayden Green, 11, he believes daylight savings will affect his sleep schedule.
“It won’t affect me personally just because of the fact I do wake up pretty early, you know, I’m a young scholar so I have to wake up early, and do some schoolwork. I find it harder to fall asleep. Since I do wake up early, it depends how much schoolwork I have but I usually wake up around 1am,” said Green.
Daylight savings can also mess with physical health. Many people end up feeling less energetic after the time change due to their sleep schedule being thrown off, usually leading to tiredness and less motivation to stay active. The change in daylight hours also has a huge impact in working out making it harder to fit in exercise. Along with finding it harder to workout most people in society will notice a change in their appetite, or eating habits with their bodies adjusting to the new time schedule. Marshall Bailey, 11, thinks daylight saving time will impact his physical health.
“I will feel more energetic because I’ll have an hour of sun, that means I could do more activities at night. Yes I do believe I’ll change my eating habits due to daylight saving, I’ll be eating more snacks, I don’t believe daylight saving will have an impact on my physical well-being because it happens every year,” said Bailey.
Coping with the changes brought by daylight saving time can be difficult for most people. Most find that slowly adjusting routines before the change helps them ease into the new schedule as smoothly as possible. Maintaining a consistent routine is important for many because it provides a sense of strength and helps keep down the interruption made by the time shift. Having certain strategies in place can be known for making a transition such as daylight saving time more manageable. Peter Ajayi, 11, talks about how he’ll adjust to daylight saving.
“I don’t use any strategies to help me cope with daylight savings time. I just go to sleep whenever it hits 10pm and I wake up at 6am. I don’t get stress changes increasing because of my daylight savings, so I guess I wouldn’t really adjust to anything,” said Ajayi.
Daylight saving time can have long-term effects on mental and physical health such as things like disruption of sleep patterns, or ongoing stress. The meaning of daylight saving time is usually discussed with most of society appreciating the extra daylight in the evening while others will find the adjustment challenging. Madyson Fryar, 11, talks about whether she believes daylight saving will have a long-term effect or not.
“If the time gets pushed back then I’ll lose sleep, and then, you know that’ll cause stress at the end of the day so I think that it does affect me long term. I like it when we gain an hour, I hate it when we lose an hour,” said Fryar.
Daylight savings time can take a toll on multiple aspects of people’s lives, but as they begin to adjust more to their new schedules, many people welcome more time in the sun.