Now that homecoming has been celebrated and Halloween is behind us, there’s another fall tradition this weekend. As winter draws near and the days are getting shorter, people are getting ready to ‘fall’ back and set their clocks an hour behind.
While the change appears to bring an extra hour of sleep, Kingston resident Jeff Kennedy says it feels like a net loss.
“It takes you about a week or two to get adjusted to the new time change.”
According to Queen’s University professor emeritus Alistair MacLean, while the change is only an hour, it can lead to sleep disturbances.
“When our sleep is disturbed, often things like our performance and mood are also disturbed,” MacLean said.
There are reportedly some benefits to the shift, like having more daylight early in the day, but MacLean says the data behind those benefits has been inconsistent.
“There’s some evidence that there may be about a three per cent saving in fuel, but that has not been a consistent finding. So I think the evidence at the moment is the downside certainly outweighs the potential benefit.”
He advises to be a bit more careful, if only for the next week or so.
Meanwhile, Kennedy has words of encouragement for anyone feeling down with both the time and temperature change.
“I think if you look at it that way, that Christmas is coming and the place is going to get lit up and I think that kind of helps me get through it.”
As for what will happen with the bi-annual tradition of changing the clock every fall and spring, there have been discussions about whether or not to continue with the adjustment every year, but for now, only time will tell.
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