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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of having to adjust my clocks every spring and fall to switch back and forth between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time (DST).
You are likely aware that on the morning of Nov. 3 at 2 a.m., the time will officially change back one hour to 1 a.m. to switch from DST back to Standard Time for the approaching fall and winter months.

I never noticed this much in my childhood years, but as an adult — as the years zoom by seemingly faster and faster — the task of adjusting the time twice per year has become an annoying one. I would not be opposed to just sticking with one or the other permanently.
DST was first introduced in the United States in 1918, and was implemented as an energy-saving measure during wartime. It was reinstated from 1942-1945 during World War II. Interestingly, the U.S. experimented with an entire year of DST in 1974 and 1975 during the oil embargo, but it was the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that led to the standardization of DST.
Obviously, the biggest pro of Daylight Saving Time is having more daylight in the evening. I have always associated this with childhood summers when we could play outdoors until well past 8 o’clock. As a result, I developed a certain amount of dread for the winter days when the shadows creep in before everyone gets off from work. This makes the commute home more dangerous as motorists must navigate in the dark.

Aside from mental wellness and highway safety, other advantages of increased daylight in the evening hours include (as mentioned above) energy savings and economic benefits, as people will theoretically spend more money in the evening.

Medical professionals tend to lean toward Standard Time as the go-to clock setting because it is said to align more with our internal “clocks.” While my personal preference differs from theirs, they do have a point. As our lives are dominated by our work schedules, especially for those who work irregular shifts, the impact upon our health can be debilitating.

What do you prefer? It would be nice to not have to think about it, for a change.