Does daylight saving leave you feeling fresh as a daisy … err, daffodil … or all out of whack? Photo: Region.
The first Sunday in October means it’s time for the NRL Grand Final and the start of daylight saving time … and Ian Bushnell railing against the evils of moving clocks forward.
After the deep of Canberra’s icy winter passes, the return of the sun to earlier times is a great relief. But just as we warm to more morning light, daylight saving descends like a curtain and we’re back in black.
The original argument was that it saved energy, but the evidence on that is mixed at best. And I don’t know if needing to light up the house at 7 am achieves that.
It’s also for recreation or getting a few jobs done after work. The trouble is that the evening is the warmest part of the day in Canberra. In summer, that usually means taking shelter, not pounding the pavement, cutting the grass or even alfresco dining.
Ask any parent what it’s like in high summer to have the light going strong at 9 pm while trying to put small children to bed.
When we change our clocks, our bodies will undergo a physical adjustment, a week or two of jet lag as the body clock adapts. It’s prime time for heart attacks too.
Other ailments include emotional and behavioural disorders, depression, stress-related immune disorders, poor gut health and accidents.
But don’t even think about daylight saving all year round. Imagine what a July morning in Canberra would feel like.
Being out of sync with the natural rhythm of the day, especially if it means missing out on that nurturing morning light, just isn’t good for you.
Research points to daylight saving causing sleep loss, especially when people are trying to cram extra activities into the back end of the day when the body should be really winding down in preparation for that rejuvenating seven to eight hours in the sack.
In a society where sleep deprivation is the new normal, that’s not good.
It may not be a high-order issue in these disturbing times, but it would not take much to admit the twice-a-year time trick is a failed experiment that just doesn’t deliver the benefits proponents say it does and causes a bunch of problems that we don’t need.
God’s time has worked since the beginning. That’s good enough for me.
Either way, clocks go forward one hour at 2 am on Sunday.
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