Time change will take some adjusting
A few hours after time springs forward this weekend, Steve Schag knows most souls will be a little more weary when they walk into church.
The longtime pastor said the Sunday when daylight saving time begins takes “a little more prompting from the pulpit to energize the morning hymn singing.”
Ohioans will lose an hour of sleep Saturday night when clocks jump from 1:59 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday.
Daylight saving time will expire Nov. 5., returning the missed hour of rest.
More light at the end of the day
The process might seem frustrating to some, but it does have its benefits, according to Schag, the Shelby mayor who served as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church for 41 years before retiring last fall, just weeks before the most recent time change.
“Some of our seasoned saints are able to attend the evening services with the value of more light for driving,” Schag said.
Sunrise will jump from 6:50 a.m. on Saturday to 7:48 a.m. Sunday, according to timeanddate.com. Sunset will spring from 6:34 p.m. Saturday to 7:35 p.m. Sunday.
Each day of March will see an increase of at least two minutes and 37 seconds of daylight.
Circadian rhythm takes 7 days to recalibrate
The change is easy for clocks, but not as swift for the human body.
That’s because it’s interrupting a delicate biological cycle known as the circadian system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A person’s internal clock accepts cues from the outside world to keep itself operating on a perfect 24-hour schedule.
“Light entering the eyes is detected by the master circadian clock in the brain, which coordinates many bodily functions, including the functions that prepare the body for sleep and wake,” a CDC bulletin reads.
The organization’s research shows it takes about seven days for the human body to adjust to the time change, a sign that pastors might see better attendance the second Sunday after the clocks switch.
“Personally, I go to bed earlier to ensure at least eight hours of sleep,” Schag
said. “Then, after that initial adjustment, I just try to embrace it and move forward with the agenda of the day. I am usually fine after about one week.”
Heart attacks and fatal wrecks increase with time change
Not only will people wake up with one hour less sleep Sunday, but they will also wake up under darker skies.
“This could result in feeling groggy and not completely alert when we start our day,” the CDC report says.
The body will get confused when people get out of bed in darkness, then crawl back into bed fewer hours after sunset than during winter.
“This sudden shift to darker mornings
and later evening light exposure may have negative health and safety effects,” the CDC warns.
The organization’s research shows it leads to an increased risk for heart attacks, an increase in fatal wrecks, more work-related safety incidents, and greater mood disturbances.
The organization suggests people talk to each other about the risks associated with the time change, slowly adjust the sleep schedule by 15 minutes a night the week leading up to the time change, get outside early after the time change to force your body to accept the new time cues, and be careful when driving or operating machinery.
Efforts to end time changes still ongoing
The negatives associated with changing times twice a year is a big reason the United States Congress is trying to end the process.
An article published by Florida Today explained that Sen. Marco Rubio, Rfla., introduced the Sunshine Protection Act last year to permanently extend daylight saving time from eight months of the year to the full 12 months.
The bill would make daylight saving time permanent across the U.S.
In 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the measure, but it has not yet been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, nor has it been signed into law by President Joe Biden. ztuggle@gannett.com 419-564-3508
Twitter: @zachtuggle