--- title: Daylight Saving Time: It Won't Harm Your Health or Sleep description: Daylight Saving Time and the effect on sleep canonical: https://time.com/3732046/daylight-saving-time-sleep/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-06T16:50:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:03:04.055Z article:section: Health og:title: Seriously, Stop Worrying About Daylight Saving Time og:description: Daylight Saving Time and the effect on sleep og:url: https://time.com/3732046/daylight-saving-time-sleep/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53c94ac6c2016c82/69878250f887dc1ef9e8a738/184869204-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3888 og:image:height: 2187 og:image:alt: 184869204 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Seriously, Stop Worrying About Daylight Saving Time twitter:description: Daylight Saving Time and the effect on sleep twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53c94ac6c2016c82/69878250f887dc1ef9e8a738/184869204-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Seriously, Stop Worrying About Daylight Saving Time > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7eeaccaf-0760-4286-8c97-7cd3b8fa3261&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Time Explains: Daylight Saving Time [Watch (HLS stream): Time Explains: Daylight Saving Time](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gMvVuTDE.m3u8) (2:26)  _Published 2013-10-30. A recent study shows that daylight saving actually accomplishes the opposite of its intended goal: saving energy._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 6, 2015 4:50 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 6, 2015 4:50 PM UTC Daylight saving time is March 8 and everyone is freaking out about what the hour of lost sleep will to do them. This is promoted, in part, by the inevitable pile-on of articles about how daylight saving time is harming our health by messing with our sleep. I am actually part of the problem. I’ve written my fair share of “[how to survive the time change](http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/09/5-ways-to-survive-daylight-saving-time/slide/unplug/)” stories, and I am sure [you can find them](http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/09/5-ways-to-survive-daylight-saving-time/) with a quick Google search. I am here to admit that those lists were probably helpful 100 daylight saving times ago, but not really today. **MORE** [Here’s How Much Experts Think You Should Sleep Every Night](http://time.com/3691992/sleep-hours-recommendations/) Sure, losing sleep does impact your health over time. But let’s be real—daylight saving time is only one hour of lost sleep. You lose more sleep when you fly from the West Coast to East than you will on Sunday. And honestly, the majority of us have bigger sleep-related problems on our hands, like not getting enough sleep every other day of the year. I asked Michael Grandner, an instructor at Penn Medicine’s Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program, for his take: “A one-hour shift at daylight savings hardly deserves dire warnings,” he says (I knew it!). “For most people, it will be a minor inconvenience that they will adjust to in one to two days. Some people, especially those who are already trying to get by on too little sleep, may feel more of these effects and they might be at increased risk.” So Grandner is a little more forgiving, adding that in a society that’s already low on sleep, a lost hour can mean impaired performance for people who are more sensitive. But I feel justified. Still, what kind of health writer would I be if I didn’t provide some service? Here is a list of five things that are worse for your sleep than daylight saving time, from the National Sleep Foundation: **1\. Your smartphone:** With so many ways to stay connected, it’s easy to hop into bed with your smartphone without even realizing it. Every time your phone buzzes or you scroll through your Instagram feed, your smartphone or tablet emits blue light, which can cause over-stimulation and keep you from falling asleep. **2\. A bad** **b** **edroom environment:** TVs, access to email and piles of laundry are common examples of sleep distractions found in the modern bedroom that can produce stress and mental arousal. Anything that doesn’t promote relaxation and sleep should find a home outside of the bedroom to promote a healthy sleep environment. **3.** **Light pollution:** To determine if a bedroom is dark enough for optimal sleep, use midnight as an ideal time indicator. If the room is not pitch black at midnight, light pollution from street lamps, traffic, and city living are reflecting and refracting too much light. This can interfere with the body cues that initiate sleep, and can prevent you from getting healthy shuteye. **4.** **Taking sleep for granted** **:** According to [National Sleep Foundation’s 2015 Sleep in America Poll,](http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-polls-data/2015-sleep-and-pain) Americans who said they were very or extremely motivated to get enough sleep reported sleeping 36 more minutes per night across the week compared to those who were not that motivated or not motivated at all (7.3 vs. 6.7 hours). Simply making sleep a priority and creating a positive sleep environment and routine can help you catch more Zs. **5\. Constantly interrupting your sleep cycle:** Sleep is vital to overall health, just like diet and exercise. However, due to life pressures, sleep can be the first thing we skimp on when life gets hectic. Consistently lacking sleep can lead to a vicious cycle of other health effects. Adequate sleep helps rejuvenate the body and mind, regulate your mood and hormones, improve learning and memory function, and reduce the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. _Read next:_ [_What to Know About Daylight Saving Time_](http://time.com/3734218/daylight-saving-time-spring-forward/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript Every spring, we turn our clocks an hour ahead. And in the fall, we turn them back. But why? Researchers and government officials are reevaluating the need for Daylight Savings Time. And here's what you need to know. The practice of Daylight Savings actually originates at the beginning of civilization. People adjusted their daily schedules depending on the sun which meant that the workday varied in length. Fast- forward to 1784 when Benjamin Franklin published an essay in France suggesting that rising earlier could help people save money on candles. More than 100 years later, George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand astronomer, suggested a two- hour daylight saving shift. Then, again, in 1907, British builder, William Willett proposed advancing clocks by 80 minutes in four incremental steps. But Daylight Savings Time wasn't formally implemented until World War I when Germany attempted to drive down the demand for electrical lighting to divert more coal to the war. Thirty- one other countries quickly followed with similar policies, seizing any opportunity to save money during the war. Daylight Savings was repealed during peacetime, but was brought back during World War II in the 1973 oil embargo. Since then, various laws have made Daylight Savings Time a standard practice across America. But states can opt out as Arizona, Hawaii, and other American territories have. Yet, despite all of Daylight Savings' promises to reduce energy consumption and save money, there's little proof that it works. In 2008, researchers released a study on statewide energy consumption before and after Indiana adopted Daylight Savings Time. The data shows that Daylight Savings actually led to a 1 percent overall rise in residential electricity and that's not even the worst of it. Another 2008 study shows that Daylight Savings affects sleeping patterns and may be linked to an increase in heart attacks. 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