Daylight Saving Time: Set your clocks back earlier this year

A practical, timely guide to the fall clock change that protects sleep, routines, attention, and home safety

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The clocks are shifting again, and this small change can shake up mornings, nights, and routines. With the end of Daylight Saving Time, the goal is simple: reset gently, stay alert, and keep your home safe. It may seem like a minor adjustment, but the impact on sleep, mood, and schedules is real. A smooth transition starts with light, timing, and a few smart habits to ease the stress.

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What’s Changing and Why It Happens

In the U.S., Daylight Saving Time follows a fixed pattern. It begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. In spring, we lose an hour. In fall, we gain one. That extra hour brings brighter mornings, but earlier sunsets.

This year, the time change happens on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at 2:00 a.m.—one day earlier than last year and one of the earliest possible dates. Most people will switch their clocks back before bed on Saturday night, November 1. The result? An extra 60 minutes for sleep, rest, or late-night fun, along with a sudden shift in daily rhythm.

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Manual clocks need to be set back by hand. Digital devices—phones, computers, TVs—usually reset automatically at 2 a.m. The shift can feel abrupt, but a little planning keeps alarms synced and appointments on track.

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How the Time Change Affects Your Schedule

Turning the clocks back gives you brighter mornings, but darkness comes earlier in the evening. This affects commute safety, evening exercise, and family plans. It can also throw off mealtimes and screen habits. Because your internal clock resists sudden shifts, use the weekend as a reset window to ease into the new routine.

Studies show it’s easier to gain an hour than to lose one. In spring, heart attack and stroke rates tend to spike after the March change. Fall is gentler, but shorter days can still bring fatigue and seasonal dips in mood. Sticking to steady sleep and getting consistent morning light helps your body adjust faster.

For some, shorter days can trigger seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Combat this by seeking bright light in the morning, moving daily, and keeping bedtime consistent. These small anchors fight drowsiness, sharpen focus, and keep your mood steady.

Health, Risks, and Smart Sleep Strategies

Start preparing a few nights ahead. Shift bedtime by 15–20 minutes at a time. Keep your wake-up consistent—even on weekends—so your body locks into the new schedule. Adjust meal times and cut back on late caffeine to avoid tossing and turning.

Use light as your ally. Step outside into natural sunlight right after waking—it signals your brain that the day has begun. In the evening, dim indoor lights and reduce screen exposure two hours before bed. These signals boost melatonin production, improve reaction time, and give you easier mornings.

Safety matters too. Darker evenings reduce visibility on the roads and around neighborhoods. While the time shift was designed to save energy and reduce accidents, personal habits play a role. Run errands earlier, wear reflective gear on walks, and set evening reminders so you don’t drift too late.

The Rules, the Exceptions, and the Debate

Daylight Saving Time has a long history. It began in World War I to save fuel, returned in World War II, and became standardized in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act. Today, the Department of Transportation manages the schedule across time zones.

But not every state participates. Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii stay on standard time year-round. U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also skip the switch.

In 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, but it stalled in the House. Similar efforts in New York also failed. Health experts warn that keeping one fixed time year-round could create “permanent jet lag” for millions of people.

Home Safety Checks and Practical Prep

The time change is the perfect reminder for a home safety check. The New York State Firefighters Association urges families to replace smoke detector batteries when clocks shift. Sixty percent of home fire deaths happen when alarms fail—this small habit saves lives.

Sort your clocks by type. Phones, laptops, and smart TVs reset automatically, but car dashboards, ovens, microwaves, and older thermostats usually don’t. Don’t forget wall clocks, watches, and bedside alarms. A full sweep prevents missed appointments and late arrivals.

Use the moment to improve sleep hygiene too. Lower the lights at night, cool down your bedroom slightly, and skip heavy meals before bed. Short naps (20 minutes or less) can refresh without disrupting deep sleep. With steady wake times, morning light, and clear alarms, your body will quickly settle into the new rhythm.

A Clear Plan for a Smooth Transition

The fall time change may be brief, but its effects ripple through sleep, safety, and daily planning. Take simple steps: mark your bedtime, get morning light, and check your alarms. On Sunday, November 2, clocks move back one hour, giving you bonus time. Use it wisely—with calm habits, safe routines, and a fresh reset for the season ahead.

95 thoughts on “Daylight Saving Time: Set your clocks back earlier this year”

  1. Time change doesn’t matter to anyone that’s rich and has the option of getting up when they want to and going to bed when they want to. But to the workers that have to set an alarm to go to work everyday it screws with our sleep, the people that matter the most. Of course, to rich people we don’t matter. Sleep deprivation has been proven to be one of the leading causes of illness in our country. And giving that rich man an extra hour of work a day is what made him rich and made me sick.

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    • I totally agree Diane just one more thing they push on us. Why the big write about it though is what i wonder? Maybe they are worried this year we finally do what we want? Because if we did what we want they would lose control.

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    • I think daylight savings time is horrible. It takes,away from our light when we get home from work. We can work in our yards or house and makes us,sluggish. They need to leave it how it is. Its,very stupid to change our clocks again. Nothing gets done we work all day and don’t have enough daylight to do anything till we get home. Its a stupid thing we dont need.

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      • You say you don’t like DST but you’re on it now & if we stay on DST in Dec on Christmas the Sun won’t come up till damm near 9:00 Am as it is on Regular time it doesn’t come up till 7:50 Am. Do we really want the sun coming up even later in the winter, I don’t think so

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      • Why can’t we stay on daylight savings time? Please I think you have it backwards. Daylight savings time is what gives us the extra light when we get home from work and I agree. We need to leave it as it is.

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    • I work overnight, my sleep is already hard to maintain. In winter my meal break is in the dark. I love it. In summer that same break is seeing sunrise. No matter what season or time I have to keep the room dark and hope the rest of the world refrains from waking me at 3 pm. I don’t go and wake people up at 3 am on my days off just because I’m awake. You see? It’s all relative to one perspective.

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  2. The time change is not a day earlier. No matter how you slice it or dice it, It’s still the first Sunday in November. Oy ve

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    • Love it! We should be on Standard time forever. We should also use the metric system and 24 hour time. Why do we have to be so different?

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      • Yep do away entirely with this crap bc it never benefits the worker only the business…or im happy to do DST how bout on a Monday morning during work for 1 hr forward and 1 hour back on Saturday night. Ha but srsly DST is a dead concept from a long gone era. Let’s have congress amend it gone ya?

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      • I don’t mind the 24 hour time format or Standard Time year round. I’m not a fan of using the Metric System. It throws of measuring and buying materials. When I go to places like the lumber yards and garden centers; I buy things by measurements like pounds and feet or inches. Landscape timbers come in lengths of feet and are measured like 4 inches by 6 inches. Just an example. Hardware like nuts and bolts are weighed out and sold by pounds. I buy fuel for my equipment by the gallon and not the liter. Liters are smaller than gallons, you don’t get as much for what you’re paying.

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      • Yes…! God already made the earth’s daylight adjust automatically. In the summer we automatically gain extra daylight without any interruption from man. Seems nobody remembers this because man began to play God. But yes the earth automatically gives us extra daylight during the summer and automatically returns itself in the fall. This is the natural occurrence that doesn’t change the time it automatically adjust gives daylight and night fall all without causing any disturbance to our health.

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      • Screw the metric system. They tried to force that crap on us in the 70’s but it went down in flames. I remember people HATING gasoline by the liter. The crown system is fine thanks. It makes no difference if we are on military time or civilian time but moving the clocks back SUCKS. I hate leaving in the dark and coming home in the dark.

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  3. I hate falling back in the winter. The days are already shorter. The sun is right in my eyes all the way home from work. The weather is cooler and I’d rather have more daylight. In the summer it’s too hot. The day drags on till 9:00. Rather see the sum go down earlier and cool off sooner. I’d rather have daylight savings time reversed or kept all year.

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    • I agree, they have it exactly backwards. About the time it starts getting dark too early they make it get dark an hour earlier!
      Some people can’t even get home from work before it’s dark already 😐

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      • It’s not healthy to have less sun light in the afternoon for a few reasons.
        First when parents and children have less time to go out as a family and enjoy activities they end up as couch potatoes.
        Mornings are usually hectic getting ready for the day.
        Very little time for after school sports.
        Walking your dog either in the neighborhood or at a park is not comfortable in the dark.
        I could go on and on.

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    • I hate it too!!
      Dark when you leave home, dark when you get back!!
      A few years ago Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill to do away with it. The Senate passed it. But it can’t be considered for being proposed for a law until the House approves it.
      It has laid there for three years!!

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  4. Permanent jet lag?? How’s that work .I don’t travel enough to get key lag and a one time shift ain’t going to efffect anyone, beyond the first day until you get used to the shift. Then back to normal.

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  5. Thousands of years…. actually millions…mankind has just done fine sans moving to clock. Farmers have worked the fields at 3 in the morning….no issues. Kids have gone to school…in the dark, no issues, came home, no issues.
    People have gone to work…no issues..now many say…it disrupts my sleep cycle moving the time back and forth, da da da ..
    You know….just too many drama queens, too many complainers, too many whiners…the rest of the world has done fine sans moving the time back and forth!
    Pick a time and leave it! Heck… Arizona and Hawaii don’t move the clock and doing just fine.

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      • Standard Time is more healthful for everyone, at every time of the year. North Dakota nearly opted out of DST last winter, and I greatly wish we had. People had forgotten how long those hot, miserable afternoons can be.

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    • You are so right. If Arizona people and the Hawaiians are fine so will we all. We need to just stay with the standard time everywhere.

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      • When I relocated from Tx to Az my first no time change, which would have been from summer to winter, was awesome! Still live in Az and having the same year round time zone is marvelous.

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    • Agree. The year we moved to Arizona, 1967, saa,that fall, late October, harborthe very last click change..we were back on Mt. Std. Time permanently! We loved it! Then, i had to out of necessity, relocate to here in MS..where they still ping-long the,clocks back ad,forth. After 7 yrs, stukl not used to it WIsh Congress or,whoever, would just pick a time standard, agree to it, and stick to it..
      Sam Burkes lll

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  6. I also wish they would leave the clocks alone nobody’s needs day light saving when I was kid they did this for farms now that everything has changed to help the farmers better they say how bad it is so just leave them alone I have talked to a lot of people they also would like to stop the changes of the clocks if others can do it way can’t we make verthing so much easier and safer

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  7. Leave it as it is now. Can’t get anything done after getting home in the evenings. It’s dark . If you live in the southern USA , grass still grows , and yard word still needs to be done.

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    • Don’t be dumb with these stories. It’s just how the calendar works since it’s in the first Sunday I’m November. Get this folks, in 2026 it’ll be EVEN EARLIER! Nov. 1!!!!! Shocking. Not really. Also, both time changes work perfectly.

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  8. When you are in the north, the sun isn’t up in the morning and sets before work ends because of the change. Stop changing clocks

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      • The Earth’s axis is tilted approximately 23.5 degrees from the perpendicular relative to its “orbital plane” around the Sun. This tilt, known as the “obliquity of the ecliptic”, is responsible for the seasons and causes different parts of the Earth to receive more direct sunlight at different times of the year. Notice that when the Northern Hemisphere enjoys “summer”, the Southern Hemisphere is experiencing its winter.

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      • Ummm… because of geography, the earth being a sphere and its rotational axis being tilted relative to the plane of its orbit around the sun. Check what the arctic circles are all about (the sun not setting all day on summer solstice and not rising in the winter).

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      • The farther North you live the shorter the hours of daylight in the fall and winter. The reverse is true of spring and summer. Much longer hours of daylight.

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    • My kids get up and go to school in the dark and they come home in the dark they don’t get a chance to play all winter long except their 30 min recess at school we live up north in Minnesota this is a true story they get on the bus at 6:20am they get home at 4:45pm and it is already dark here they have no daytime except when they are at school think about what that does the kids in Minnesota that’s bad that’s very bad. Kids need a chance to play to get out to do things instead they sit in there rooms play their devices and think about ways to shoot up their school! Get real this needs to change. If not for your state it definitely does in Minnesota! But why would anybody think about the kids they don’t got time to think about that when it gets dark so fast 🤔

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  9. You know it’s the same thing ever year people complain about falling back or spring forward why don’t fall back 1/2 hours from daylight savings and leave it 🤔 so you gain 1/2 in the fall and winter and lose 1/2 hour in the spring and summer but probably won’t miss it because the days are longer any

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    • I agree. Move it a half hour and NEVER move it again. But, we have to wait for our dysfunctional congress to do their job. We are so screwed.

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  10. Pretty sure there will be no time change this fall. Trump promised to keep us on daylight savings time forever. This November will be his first chance to do that. Let’s hope for the best.

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    • I certainly hope you are wrong. Trump originally promised to *abolish* DST. If we had it in the winters, here in ND and the whole northern tier of states, the sun wouldn’t come up until 10 AM in parts of the state. People who work indoors or go to school wouldn’t see the sun until the noon hour, which would play havoc with our circadian rhythms. The amount of light and dark wouldn’t change, just be shifted to where dark is less tolerable. Winter evenings are pleasant: everyone has Christmas lights up, and it’s still relatively warm from the daytime. Winter mornings are bleak, and the coldest part of the day is just before sunrise. Forcing people to be up then, driving in the dark, children waiting for the school bus when it’s 20 below – it wouldn’t last. The population wouldn’t tolerate it any more than they did in 1974.

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    • I pray you are right. I get so sick of leaving work at 5:00 in Ohio and it’s just about dark. I feel like it’s dark all the time when we go switch the time back. We already lose so much daylight naturally after the first day of summer. How much darkness to people want?!!! It’s like your body just wants to stay in after work because it’s dark. I get so sick of it. I don’t understand the concept, we already lose so much light anyway after the first day of summer – Why do we take more light away and for anyone who complains about long afternoons being too hot and long – my advice to you is take into consideration us people up North, we don’t have real hot weather and we get such deep snow. Try to be snowed in all the time and it starts to get dark at 5:00, wet roads after snow turn into sheets of ice without any light. Try driving in that for 35 minutes to an hour fighting the horrible roads. It gets old and it gets old fast.

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  11. I agree stop messing with the time they go back that hour as deer hunting is stating out where I live in indiana and when the time goes back there are so many accidents uncalled for due to them making it darker that hour earlier. It’s ridiculous if the kids has a long bus ride like I did as a kid your literally home 45 minutes before it starts getting dark. The farmers has advanced si much so much in farming they do t need the time messed with. They did a survey on people that stayed on this time to the ones that went back that hour on there brains and it was damaging the evidence they found in our chemical imbalance. Cuz they do every 6 months so we dont know how to adjust right. I dont know why the transportation people want to keep doing this to our kids but I disagree so bad with this. The seasons already done a time shift like it should they shouldn’t mess with our darkness anymore than that and making it get darker an hour easier by do it this back time. In late August you see it gets darker earlier right before labor day weekend comes up who agrees with everything I’ve said it’s so true we american people keep up with what’s going on!!

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    • What about the yearlong when workers change their work shifts do they adjust their biologic clock every day depending on the request of their bosses or supervisors?!!
      In the past people were following the seasons natural changes because they were working from the sun rise in the morning to sun set in the evening and go home to take care of their families and then go to sleep. No 3 shifts in 24 hours.

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  12. Leave it as it is gaining an extra hour of sleep is beneficial for everyone. OVERALL BETTER HEALTH IF IT CHANGES IT WOULD BE AWFUL FOR EVERYONE EVERYONE WILL NEVER GET ENOUGH SLEEP WHICH MAKES YOU WOULD FEEL TIRED ALL THE TIME

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    • The Earth is doing what it does why do we have to fall back an hour which the body is set to light and dark automatically nobody wants to get up in pitch Black and head out to work and the children to school in pitch Black. The Earth’s rhythm is doing what it does we come home at 6:00 in the evening we’re driving from work and it’s dark still we have things to do because it’s not bedtime when it’s dark the Earth is doing what it does it’s rhythm is correct I disagree falling back the mornings are already darker and I hate that my body wants to sleep and get up when it starts getting light outside I think America needs to slow down businesses should open later school should open later we should go with the flow and let our bodies tell us when it’s time to get up and when it’s time to go to bed which are set to circadian rhythm not spring forward and fall back time

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  13. The people speaking about the time change are so much into the woke movement. I don’t know any person that goes to bed the same time every night. They must really be messed up every day. I’m in my sixties and it hasn’t affected me yet.

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  14. I think Ontario or all the Canada stop changing time its make me depressed and my anxiety goes up . We are not in the past its done now its cost society too much. And so on

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  15. Every time the time changes we have a spike in heart attacks strokes, car accidents and roadkill. Even the friggin animals suffer because we are now k. The road when they move around at night. Then as soon as it balances out we change and go back to heart attacks, strokes, car accidents, and roadkill…. It’s grossly weird that the house doesn’t notice all this but they notice permanent jet lag?????? Makes no sense at all….

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  16. Lived in Arizona 1968 to 1989. 1 year they tried time switch. Drive-in theaters didn’t start until 10pm. Restaurants lost millions. Too hot to go out. Indian nations were on Standard time and that caused issues.

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    • ..I hear,you there Maria. We arrived the preceding year in May; that October, clocks retrogressed..it stayed that way from thence onward..we were pretty happy about that! Then I moved here to Miss..gotta,be screwing with the clock changes yet again..Absolutely hate it! Makes no sense..Gheez!! Pick a time std, stick with it!!!

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  17. Leave on standard time. Don’t listen to all the BS and keep living your life as usual. I’m 87 and standard time is the normal way of life. Ask a cow ! Sunny p

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  18. It is only a conception of mind. Time itself does not change, only your views of changing the digital or analog hands of a time piece. It’s your mind set that changes and create your problems.

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  19. I wish they would hurry up and get this voted on and Congress and let us stay on daylight saving time for good.
    I hate my time coming so early. It keeps you from doing other work in the yard and going out and doing things you like to do that you can’t do in the dark.
    Arizona another state stays on daylight saving time and they love it out there. We were supposed to vote on Florida State or daylight saving time several years ago but because the Democrats ruled Congress, they thought that would be another way they could mess up Florida so they kept putting the vote off.. senator Rubio is the one that tried to get it put in, but they kept putting the vote off and also it never did pass.
    Come on Congress quit playing games and pass this so we can keep daylight saving time in Florida

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  20. I thought Congress said this will be the last time the US will change the time. That’s great, except they PICKED the WRONG time zone to “stay in”. Instead of it being 9pm in the summer time, it will be getting dark at 8pm. Americans will not be able to do more activity outdoors, thus back to the couches we go. You will have to turn your lights on earlier, thus energy consumption will increase. Nitecrawlers looking to burglarize or get into trouble will start earlier. A dumb Representation in New Mexico said, “well we don’t want children going to the bus stop too early before the sun comes up”. When has “the Children” gone to work and make the world go around? Never in this country, maybe he is thinking of child labor. The whole thing is stupid.

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  21. I thought we were getting rid of this crap. I hate going backwards. It’s dark by 5:00 in the afternoon. There’s no reason for changing the clocks back!

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  22. I for one think the time change should be stoped Arizona and Hawaii are doing just fine , All these people who talk about jetlag wtf. Just keep one time and everyone will get use to it in a day or two problem solved set all your clocks one time and no more worries .

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    • Definitely. I think the quotes about heart attacks, strokes, is probably due to changing the body’s rhythm all the time, not the actual amount of sun we get.

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  23. I’m happy that it’s time to fall back. I wish we could leave it that way always. I hate it when spring comes and we have to spring forward. It makes the day seem very long. I don’t adjust well when we spring forward. Love the fall and winter, and would really like to see the clocks stay that way.

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  24. Why is this comment section full of people with subpar brain power? DLS is for exactly what it’s name is. Saving daylight. That’s it. It’s so our business hours remain during the daytime because sunrise and sunset times naturally change and most of us don’t want to work in the dark. It’s also much safer to drive during daylight hours. No, you aren’t getting jet lagged twice a year. You’re just not smart, have put zero effort into understanding why we use DLS, and want an excuse to complain about it like your words are significant. Do better.

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  25. I see that majority of commenter would be fine with abolishing DST; it is a dinosaur. If a oerson group school or business wants to conduct activities or business earlier or later just do that, why change the time? Change Your time. Leave the clicks alone. And it’s for 8 months! Just change it for all year long or leave it alone. For those who want to keep, have a DST Day midsummer, change up in the morning then back that night Yea! More sunlight! Ridiculous. Maybe in several more decades congess will change it when many old geezers (I am one!) have died off.

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  26. I wish someone would listen to the majority instead of the minority for once!
    Politicians are afraid of their own shadow when it comes to making a common sense decision!

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  27. I wish they would get rid of DST all together. Let us keep that extra hour in the evenings of sunlight. I live in Texas. I dont see well to drive at night in the dark. I get off work at 5pm. By 515pm to 530pm its completely dark outside and I haven’t even made it halfway home yet. It makes it a true challenge for me to work in the evenings because I can’t see well when driving home. Plus when I get home its dark and I can no longer walk my dog or do yard work even though the temperature is finally cool enough to do it without having a heat stroke. Get rid of switching the clocks! The country did just fine with it being Standard time for centuries. Then the idiots in government decided to change it and now everyone suffers!

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  28. I love it when the sun is out longer during the day. It’s crappy to drive to work in the dark and come home from work and drive in the dark. No sunlight to do the things I want to do with my family when it’s dark outside. They get depressed being inside and wanting to do things outside with all of us. Just stay on the one we’re on right now and stop changing time. I think more people like this time we’re on. More people going out to eat or shop or going to outside recreation events helps the economy. People want to stay inside when it’s dark. Stop changing it congress PLEASE

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  29. Think you missed out there???

    If coming out of winter, let’s say the sun approaches a 7am rising, we help it hit an 8am rising time. What did we gain? Most businesses open between 7-9am, yeah the sun is usually still up at 5:30pm when my business closes during DST! DST must not be for today’s businesses!

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