When I was the publisher of this newspaper, I set my agenda to be at the newspaper by seven in the morning. John Pierce often was there before me as we both wanted to get a jump on the day. I was usually up by six in the morning, having breakfast and a cup of coffee before going to work. I thought that in retirement that I would eventually learn to sleep in to seven or later. It hasn’t happened in the six years that I have been in retirement.
In fact, today I often am awake shortly after five in the morning. My bedtime routine has not changed, although I will often catch a nap shortly after supper. In summer when our bedroom windows are open, I frequently am alert at four in the morning and hope that I will be able to return to sleep. It often becomes a reading time. And as the sun rises earlier, my sleep shortens.
Dr. Rébecca Robillard, PhD who teaches at the School of Psychology at Ottawa University has been writing columns in the Globe and Mail explaining how our sleep patterns change as we age and has recommendations to improve our sleep habits. I never realized that for older people, sleep becomes more fragmented. It probably explains by 3:00 am awakenings, and naps in the evening and sometimes in the afternoon.
All of this gets me around to daylight saving time. This Sunday at 2:00 a.m. we will set our clocks back an hour and everyone expects to catch another hour of sleep. I only hope that I can catch that extra hour of sleep. I sometimes envy the citizens of Atikokan, Yukon, Saskatchewan and parts of B.C. and Quebec who never change their clocks. Their inner clock never has to be adjusted for the changes brought by daylight savings time.
Adjusting our clocks by one hour should not be taxing on our bodies. Yet sleep experts have noted troubling effects of moving from standard time to daylight savings time on our bodies. Experts have noticed that there is an uptick in heart problems, mood swings and car accidents in the change from standard time to daylight time in March. Our internal 24-hour clocks do not adjust easily. Our bodies depend on natural daylight to set our circadian clocks.
There is a movement afoot to do away with daylight savings time. A new private member’s bill by MP Marie-France Lalonde aims to end daylight savings time across Canada and keep our nation on one permanent year-round clock. If passed, the bill would trigger a national conference with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to make the move official.
Maybe there is something to doing away with Daylight Saving Time and go to year-round standard time.
