This Sunday marks the end of daylight savings time, and while we'll have an extra hour of sleep (hooray!), it also means fewer sunlit hours. The earlier sunset also brings increased danger for your pet, whether from moving vehicles or dangerous nocturnal wild animals, so follow these six tips to keep your dog or cat out of harm's way until we set our clocks forward again in the Spring.
Source: Flickr user idea-saras
I've always had a complicated relationship with daylight savings time — especially the springing forward part. While I love that it gives me extra daylight time to spend outdoors at the end of my workday, I absolutely hate how dark and dreary my home is in the morning during those first few weeks after we change the clocks. What about you? Are you unaffected by waking up to a dark house? Or are you displeased by it as well?
It is time to change our clocks again this Sunday. That means that at 2 a.m. on November 4, you've got to set your clock back one hour. The saying, "Spring forward and fall back," always helps me remember which way the clocks go.
It's great that we gain an hour, but a new study shows that our bodies don't adjust well to the time shift. Although it's just a one hour difference, our natural clock (known as circadian rhythm), may take up to four weeks to adjust in the Spring and another six weeks to adjust in the Fall.
There have only been a few studies on the connection between Daylight Savings Time and human circadian rhythms, so it's not yet known if the constant changing has any significant long-term effects on our health. Hopefully this subject will be studied soon.
Since gaining an hour will definitely mess with your internal clock, be sure to listen to your body's needs. Eat and sleep when your body wants to, and gradually shift your old schedule back an hour. It may take a few days, or even a few weeks for things to feel normal again.
Fit's Tip: When you change your clocks back, don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.
People seem split on this time change and I am curious to know how you feel about gaining an hour? Tell me how you feel in the comment section below.
Reik! Reik! Reik! I dreaded the arrival of Daylight Savings Time for the hour of sleep it would cost me, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this kind of international havoc. The Daily Show reports on the very avoidable danger that could "definitely kill your children" if Daylight Savings precautions were not made in time. Tick, tock, tick, tock...
This Sunday is Daylight Savings Time. That means that at 2 am on March 11, the clocks skip ahead 1 hour. Remember the saying - "Spring forward and Fall back."
Losing one hour of sleep can really screw up your circadian rhythm (your body's inner clock), so you might want to think about easing into it.
On the day before, try going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier. You can also adjust your mealtime schedule and eat an hour earlier.
Before you go to sleep on Saturday night, set all the clocks in your house ahead 1 hour. That way, when you wake up on Sunday morning, it won't be so obvious that you lost an hour.
On that Sunday, avoid taking a nap to make up for the hour you lost. It'll only make it harder to get to sleep on Sunday night.
On that Monday, try to keep your schedule light. You might be feeling tired and cranky, so if you have less to do, it'll give your body time to relax and adjust.
Fit's Tips: Don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors too.
