Does Daylight Savings Time Help Increase Productivity In The US?

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Daylight Savings Time is the process of turning our clocks forward during the summer months of the year. A man called George Vernon Hudson first proposed this practice in 1895. The actual roll out of the idea was on April 30, 1916. The actual dates that the clocks get changed have changed slightly over the years. In fact during the energy crisis in the 1970’s, it was greatly expanded on the idea that keeping it in effect would reduce energy consumption during peak hours.

I remember as a kid what a treat it was to be able to go outside in the daylight at 7 or 8 at night. Even as an adult, the days just seem to be more productive when you have an hour or so more of daylight in the evening.

Daylight savings is definitely a boost to many industries including retailing, sporting events etc. For us in the computer repair business, it actually creates a slight decrease in business as more people are out and about doing outdoor activities for a lot more hours of the day.

The fact remains whether daylight savings time helps to reduce energy or not. The facts that are there are simply too vague and in many cases contradictory on if there is an actual benefit. One fact remains clear; it is something that most of us in the United States look forward to every year.

The fact remains that when the time changes back to regular time in the fall that winter is soon to arrive. The shorter days with less daylight in the evening causes more folks to stay home after work or even go to sleep earlier then during the summer months. This rationale can have an adverse effect on some industries like retailing but for many online sites and online computer repair sites, business actually booms. Our busiest time of year is during the peak of Winter when many folks spend more time at home and on their computers.

In the early day of the Benjamin Franklin era, there were no standardized clocks or even any standardized time system. You got up at sunrise when your city shot off a cannon or rang the church bells and went to bed shortly after sunset. Your day was not based on actual time but instead your day started at sunrise. During this era, there was no need for daylight savings time as time was adjusted naturally every day by the sunrise and sunset.

Most countries have abandoned using daylight savings time except the United States, Canada and some European Countries. Daylight savings now lasts through almost two thirds of the year for the United States. One of the biggest issues if daylight savings time is ever changed in the future would be the effect on computer systems throughout the United States. A patch would have to be rolled out to change the dates that are currently is use. This exact scenario happened in 2007 when DST was expanded to help in energy conservation.

One of the good effects of using DST is a reduction in auto fatalities. There are more accidents during months of non-DST then there are when it is in effect. This is probably due to the fact that during the winter, it is dark when most folks are trying to make their way home from work.

It is a known fact that the seasonal shift from daylight savings time to standard time can temporarily reduce our productivity and sleep cycle. This transition can last for weeks with some people. The solution would be to change to DST all year long. There actually some locations that already do this such as Western China, Argentina, Iceland and Russia. The idea has been looked at but if it ever comes into play would be anybody’s guess.

So how do you feel about the time change? Let us know in the comment section of this post.

Article by, Ross Deprey