OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — If you woke up feeling tired Sunday morning, join the club! You lost an hour of sleep thanks to daylight saving time and that one hour can have impacts on your overall health.
When you work with clocks on a daily basis, it's something that doesn't catch you off guard. But for others, it can be a hassle. "Talking to my customers they would rather have it stay one way or the other," said Tom Huber, owner of Time Center, a clock repair store in Omaha.
Daylight saving time means a lot of people will need help adjusting their clocks, and Huber expects to be busy. Spring forward has other impacts as well, mainly concerning health. "55% of people are actually sleepy the next day. You're more likely to be tired, there's also increased risk of mood disorders and actually psychomotor performance probably suffers," said Dr. Stanley Thomas, Sleep Physician at CHI Health.
Psychomotor performance includes things like driving. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, fatal car crashes go up by 6% across the nation right after the change. It's not just car crashes however, the risk for heart attacks and strokes also go up the day after. "When it comes to implications on health I would be in favor of keeping things where they are where you don't have to fall back in the fall," said Thomas.
Huber would like to see the time switch done away with now that spring forward has occurred. "I'd rather have it be lighter at night so probably daylight saving time would be my preference of the two."
Dr. Thomas says to help you adjust to time changes in the future, start going to bed one hour earlier days before spring forward, so when it does change it won't impact you as much.
To contact Time Center:
12277 W Center Rd (Westwood Plaza) Omaha, NE 68144
402-330-6677
