Twice a year it happens, and throws off my day–no, several, if not a whole week–every time. My friend Jim Winter complains about it at least once, usually twice a year. This year, he calls it “Winter’s Final Screw You,” and has at other times referred to it as the “crappiest time of the year” and his “least favorite time of year.”
I have to admit, I agree. It’s basically jet-lag without going anywhere, and the older I get, the more it throws me off. Some people think it’s cool to get that extra hour in the fall (usually when they are at a bar at a Halloween party), but for me, it usually is just taken up in adjustment time. Or at the very least, an extra hour to sleep in without feeling like so much of a slug. But then the days that are already getting short seem that much shorter when sunset comes an hour earlier.
The springtime spring forward is even worse. I have enough trouble getting to sleep at night that I can’t just go to bed an hour earlier and get anything out of it. But I still have to get up an hour earlier the next day.
Of the two, I hate the switch to Standard Time in the winter more, because of that whole short day getting shorter thing. Even the government has figured out that it’s not such a good thing–we use more energy when daylight fades sooner, which is why we fall back later now than we did a few years ago, and spring forward sooner. Daylight Savings Time really does save.
OTOH, it is that much harder to get up early when it’s still dark, and the switch to Standard Time means I have to do that for only about a month. Also, I don’t like the idea of kids having to walk to school or wait for the bus in the dark any more than most parents do, so minimizing that is a good thing.
Jim’s post says there’s a movement afoot to abolish time change. I can’t say I’d be sad if that happened. Given the above, I’m not sure if that’s a solution. Neither way gives me any extra hours in the day–which is what I’d really like.
Which brings me around to my ROW80 update. I don’t know where the week went, but not much of it went to writing. I only got about 1500 words written, when I wanted to get 3500. I did get the website done, which was partially spurred by the fact that last week, I said, “this time for sure!” So that’s a win. Fitness was again, halfway there. But with the website done, I do get to move on to something else this week, which is a good thing. 🙂 Also, because my friend has been more than patient with me and I’m glad to finally have it taken care of for her. I might have a few more tweaks to do after she looks it over, but otherwise, I’m moving on to the next thing on the list. Here goes for this week:
- 3500 new words
- Tie up any loose ends on website and format print book for friend
- Fitness 3-4x
What about you–do you like time change, or do you think we should just abolish it altogether? Which one do you find harder to deal with, fall back or spring forward? And whether or not you’re a writer or participating in ROW80, how did you do on whatever goals you had this week? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!
Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.