Ready or not, Daylight Saving time ends next week. The biannual changing of the clocks happens on November 3rd, when we “fall back” to Standard time. While we do it every fall and then change them again in the spring, just preparing for the time adjustment leaves 40% of Americans feeling a sense of dread, according to a new survey of 2-thousand adults.
The feeling is so widespread that there’s even a name for it - the “Daylight Saving Scaries,” which two in five Americans experience. And it lasts a lot longer than the day before and after the clocks change. The research finds that the sense of dread kicks off an average of 11 days ahead of the switch and it doesn’t end until about 13 days later, which is November 16th this year.
The survey also reveals:
- Even those who don’t get the Daylight Saving Scaries want to stop changing the clocks, as 59% would permanently stop the switch to and from Daylight Saving time if they could.
- Older Americans are even more eager to stop it, 69% of baby boomers would end the twice a year time change given the chance.
- Only 35% of those polled think the trade-off of getting an extra hour of sleep for the night in the fall is worth it.
- That might be related to the fact that 77% say they feel more energized when the sun is out and once Daylight Saving time ends, 70% feel like their day starts and ends when it’s dark.
- Almost half (48%) of employed respondents miss the daylight because they’re at work during all the hours of it, while 54% get the “sunlight blues” after the time change.
- Another 43% of workers say that the week after Daylight Saving time ends is their least productive on the job.
- Nearly a third (31%) admit they make more mistakes than usual then, including falling asleep while typing a letter to the company’s president, showing up late after forgetting to change their clocks and putting salt instead of sugar into their coffee.
- Overall, 21% say changing the clocks negatively affects their sleep schedule and 37% need more sleep in the days and weeks after Daylight Saving time ends.
Source: SWNS Digital