Daylight Saving Time and Early Morning Sun

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a system of changing clocks each Spring and Fall. It’s designed to give people more daylight during summer months by turning the clock one hour ahead in the Spring and one hour back in the Fall. In most of the United States, DST runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. This means that sometime during early March, clocks are turned one hour ahead. As a result, the sun may actually come up one hour later than normal in the early morning can cause a major disturbance in your morning routine.

How Daylight Saving Time Affects the Sunrise

When adjusting your clock an hour ahead during the Spring, the sun will rise an hour later. If it’s 7 a.m. when you adjust the clock, then you’ll actually experience a 6 a.m. sunrise. While you may think that you’re losing an hour of daylight, this is not technically true. You’re simply pushing the hour of sunrise forward in order to get more daylight hours in the late afternoon and evening. While the sun might not be up just yet, the extra hour of sunlight you’ll get in the Spring and Summer gives you the opportunity to enjoy longer days and get outdoors more.

How To Get Enough Morning Sun

In order to make sure that you get enough morning sun when DST kicks in, you can adjust your sleep schedule. On the night before time changes, try to get a full night of sleep in order to give your body and mind the rest it needs. Do this as early as possible in order to give yourself some extra time to get used to the new schedule. Then, the next morning, set your alarm an hour earlier so that you can take advantage of the extra hour of sunlight. This can be hard to do at first but will eventually become a habit and you’ll automatically get up an hour earlier when Daylight Saving Time takes place.

It’s also helpful to try to modify your physical activities to fit the new schedule. If you usually take a morning walk or jog, try to get up a bit earlier to take advantage of the new sunrise. This way, you won’t miss out on the extra bit of sunlight you can gain from Daylight Saving Time.

Overall, Daylight Saving Time can be a great way to get some extra hours of sunlight and enjoy longer days in the Spring and Summer. But it can also throw off your morning routine. With a few adjustments, though, you can get used to the new schedule and make the most of that extra hour of morning sunlight.