Why Daylight Saving Time Feels Like a Time-Traveling Headache

Here we are once again, approaching the end of daylight saving time, that biannual tradition of 'falling back' to standard time and resetting our clocks. This year, the official date and time for this change is 2 am on Sunday, November 5th.

Now, if you're like many of us and find the practice of switching our clocks backward and forward a bit outdated and perhaps even unnecessary (the silver lining being that we gain an extra hour of sleep during the change), you might have asked yourself, "Wasn't there talk of passing a law to make daylight saving time permanent?" Well, you're partially correct.

In 2021, the U.S. Senate took a significant step by passing the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill aimed at making daylight saving time a permanent fixture. However, for this proposal to become law, it still needs the approval of the House of Representatives and a signature from the President. Notably, our own NJ Senator Cory Booker was a co-sponsor of this bill.

If this bill becomes law, it would do away with the practice of observing Standard Time, which currently occupies four months of the year, spanning from November to March.

Instead, the law would establish Daylight Saving Time as a year-round occurrence, observed for eight months each year. This shift could potentially simplify our lives by ending the biannual clock adjustments that many find bothersome. We'll have to wait and see if this change becomes a reality.

If you're wondering about the origins of Daylight Saving Time, it was initially introduced with the goal of conserving energy, making the most of daylight, and cutting down on fuel costs. Today, this practice is adopted in over 70 countries worldwide.