Springing forward and falling backward seems to be a no win -- in the fall we are happy to set clocks back an hour for that extra hour of sleep, but not happy with earlier dark skies. In spring, when we happily get that daylight back by setting clocks an hour forward, we complain that we lose an hour of sleep!
When the pandemic shut everything down in March 2020, Kevin and I decided to try a more gentle method of losing that hour. Just lose it slowly during the evening and maybe we wouldn’t really notice it!?
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Given that it’s going to be a cold Saturday, chances are good you can enjoy a fire and evening at home, so this might really work well for you!
Restaurants were then and still are delivering, so at 6 p.m. we ordered food and also set our clocks forward fifteen minutes. Of course, you could just start making dinner then if you’re inclined.
We poured a glass of wine, relaxed, and found a couple of movies to schedule for the night.
The food arrived around 45 minutes later and at 7 p.m. (our new time) we advanced the clocks another fifteen minutes to 7:15 p.m. So now we were half an hour ahead!
We enjoyed dinner and at 8 p.m. (again, by the clocks we’ve set) go forward another 15 minutes and start a movie. You guessed it, at 9 p.m. we added the final fifteen minutes. At this point all of our clocks are an hour ahead like they needed to be so we watched our movies until ready to head down for the night.
The next morning. No issues!
You can always try this in other combinations -- 20 minutes over three hours or maybe go forward a half-hour early in the evening and then another half-hour later? Or suck it up, change the clocks and go to bed Saturday night! Smart devices change themselves regardless!
But what are we really saving?
Remember that this is daylight saving time (not the plural savings) and I wondered just what it is we are saving? We’re not saving daylight or time, after all. There’s nothing here to put in the bank. Or is there? My quick googling says we’re saving energy -- more daylight means less energy being used to light things up!
On another note, this is a good reminder to change those smoke detector, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radio and carbon monoxide batteries.
Have a great last-winter-weekend and bundle up! And let me know if you try this clock-changing method and if it works for you! To be honest, I thought it was brilliant, but Kevin just rolled his eyes.
Frank