Just like the jet lag you get when you fly across time zones and find yourself out of sync with the new local time, social jet lag can cause many problems including disrupted sleep, increased risk of accidents, lower productivity at work and in school, and increased risk of negative health impacts. The problem is that we live in societies that force us to get up and go to work or school at times that we don’t get to choose.Ĭhronobiologists, the name given to scientists who study biological timing, call this situation “social jet lag,” when the body clock doesn’t match the social clock. Our body clocks would be in sync with the sun clock. Consider this: If we all spent our time outdoors getting plenty of natural light, and could choose when to get up and go to sleep as our ancestors did, our internal clocks would be set by the sun so that we would tend to wake up at dawn, and then, depending on the time of year, stay awake for a while in the evening after dark. But importantly, it’s the light in the morning that is most important in resetting our biological clocks. More evening light means less morning light. While this is true, we can’t change the number of hours of light in the day. The argument in favour of permanent DST is that there would be more light in the evening.

So why does it matter whether we adopt permanent DST or permanent ST?Īll the processes happening in our bodies are co-ordinated by our biological clocks, located in our brains and all other organs.

After time switches, particularly the “spring forward,” there are increased rates of car accidents, heart attacks, strokes and workplace injuries. There is general agreement that getting rid of the time switch twice a year would be a good idea. However, in doing so, we must adopt Standard Time (ST), not Daylight Savings Time (DST, or “summer time”).

As experts on biological rhythms, we support the switch to a permanent time. They are writing on behalf of the Canadian Society for Chronobiology.Ĭhanging our clocks twice a year has little benefit, economic or otherwise, so isn’t it time to stop this antiquated practice? The good news is that some provincial legislatures agree and are currently considering bills to adopt permanent time.

Turn back the clock 2019