Don't Forget to Spring Your Clocks Forward Sunday

Before you get to bed this weekend, make sure to "spring forward" your clocks one hour. Beginning at 2 a.m. Sunday, Daylight Saving Time starts again.

Yes, that means you'll be losing an hour of sleep Sunday morning. 

According to USA Today, a survey says many Americans struggle with the time change for about a week. Sleep experts, according to the USA Today report, are skeptical the time change has any real negative consequences.

About 61% of Americans say changing the clocks has an effect on them, and 40% say it takes them at least one week to get back to normal, according to a recent survey by the Better Sleep Council, a mattress industry group.

"That one hour doesn't have as dramatic of an effect as people think," says David Volpi, founder and medical director of Eos Sleep, a center for treatment of snoring and sleep apnea. "I think people use that as an excuse. It's only an hour. It's not like you are dealing with jet lag."

Thousands of U.S. residents have even signed a 'We the People' petition on the White House's website in hopes Daylight Saving Time could be discontinued. 

The real issue, however is not the later hours or extra sunlight. Studies have shown that changing the clocks is responsible for health problems (including increased heart attack and vehicular accident risks) and leads to hundreds of thousands of hours of lost productivity in workplaces across the country. Also: It's really annoying.

The petition, which has around 7,000 signees, would need to reach 100,000 signees before a response would be required from the White House. 

Other Daylight Saving Time Tidbits:

• Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands do not observe Daylight Saving Time. 
• According to National Geographic, "no federal rule mandates that states or territories observe daylight saving time.
• The Better Sleep Council said 39% of U.S. adults claim that daylight saving time affects their mood and that women have a harder time adjusting to the change than men. 

The Better Sleep Council conducted a survey in February about Daylight Saving Time. Click here to see the full results. 

Daylight Saving Time also marks a time when many local agencies, such as St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue, ask residents to change their smoke alarms. 

That agency and many others practice the, "Change Your Clock, Change Your Batteries", routine. "A working smoke alarm doubles your chance of survival during a fire by giving you the critical time needed to escape," a St. Pete Fire & Rescue news release said. 

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