Stop Whining About and Instead Celebrate Daylight Saving Time

by Ray Keating

The Keating Files – March 6, 2020

While we all have our pet peeves, I confess to often being bewildered by what really gets under people’s skin. The approach of Daylight Saving Time each year, for example, generates annoyance that I really don’t get.

This year, Daylight Saving Time arrives early Sunday (March 8) morning, with our clocks being turned forward one hour. In the end, it’s basically about a shift of an hour of sunlight from the morning to the evening.

So, what’s the beef? Primarily, people complain about losing an hour of sleep. Really? For one night, the clock is pushed ahead one hour, and people can’t adjust their sleeping schedule accordingly? You know, for that one day, go to bed an hour earlier than normal. Is it really that hard?

But the shift proves just too much for some, and they complain – often quite loudly.

In reality, the shift to Daylight Saving Time should be celebrated. 

First, it’s a signal that spring will be arriving shortly, leaving behind the cold, darkness and snow of winter. That’s always welcome. Second, shifting an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening as warmer weather and more daylight overall approach points to more time to enjoy the outdoors later in the day, including, for example, for fun like golf, barbequing, swimming, sailing, beach time, reading a book on the porch or deck, or whatever else one savors outdoors.

Still, there are going to be those who whine about one lost hour of sleep and a shift on the clock. If that’s the case, here’s the solution: After we move to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, just leave it there, forever. Don’t go back to so-called Standard Time on November 1. Make Daylight Saving Time the true standard time, as it should be.

But until that happens, stop the whining, and with Daylight Saving Time, appreciate the coming of spring, warmer weather, and more evening fun under the sun.

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Ray Keating is a columnist, an economist, a novelist (his latest novels are The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12^thbook in the series, and the second edition of Root of All Evil? A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel with a new Author Introduction), a nonfiction author (among his recent works is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know), a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own.