Let there be light

A takedown of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight savings means it will now be dark by 4:45 pm until 30th January.

As a result, my usual teatime runs will now involve additional preparation. I’ll have to start wearing my stupid light harness and avoiding my favourite trails in favour of paths by busy roads due to poor lighting.

This whole week I’ve been thinking about how Daylight Saving Time (DST) must have been invented by a man… there’s no way any woman would prefer a dark evening over a dark morning, where safety is concerned anyway.

DST actually dates back to ancient Rome, where people would shift the time by several hours to match daylight hours. Since then, there have been numerous examples of humans messing with the clocks to make better use of daylight. Then, in World War I, the UK followed Germany in introducing the twice-yearly clock change.

Since the 1960s, there have been conversations about keeping the clocks in their summer time zones (BST), which would mean darker mornings but lighter evenings. I must say, I am massively in favour of this. Waking up in the dark sucks, but knowing it’s getting light soon brings a feeling of hope that you cannot get from needing to turn on the big light at 4:30 p.m.

In The Spectator this week, Kristina Murkett wrote that daylight savings is “unfeminist,” citing women’s safety as just one of the myriad issues with the clocks changing. In fact, three-quarters of women change their outdoor activity routines at this time, with over half of us giving up exercise altogether in the winter.

Meanwhile, just one hour can change absolutely everyone, especially for us sensitive folk. As a neurodivergent person, routine is one of my most cherished assets. I like to do things my way, in the same order at the same time… but the clocks falling back has sent me for a loop—and all my kids (one human, two dogs) have felt this, too. In fact, it’s only today (Thursday) that I am starting to feel ‘normal’ again.

Murkett also wrote about the pains of motherhood in this trying time (something I myself experienced firsthand last weekend):

For parents, the end of daylight saving is a cruel and unnecessary punishment. There was no extra hour snuggling under a duvet enjoying blissful sleep – I have friends whose children woke as early as 4 a.m. on Sunday. And even if you did manage to snooze, you soon lose that time again trying to work out how on earth to reset the oven clock.

This week, I’ve been picking my daughter up from nursery (at around 5 p.m.) in the pitch dark. It’s a novelty to her, as she loves the moon and stars, but I can’t help but mourn for the versions of us who would nip to the park or walk the dogs a little further. Now, we rush home before nighttime properly beds in.

What’s even more bizarre is that there is actual scientific evidence to prove that Daylight Saving Time is damaging our health. We already know that the end of DST can exacerbate Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) symptoms, as our circadian rhythms are closely linked to how much sunshine we get.

Where previously DST would give us more time to work in the fields and factories, it now means many of us are driving to the office in the dark, illuminated by strip lighting all day, then heading home after nightfall. I don’t need to explain to you why this is a miserable life, because you’ve probably lived it.

Knowing the UK and its inability to change fucking anything, I doubt we’ll see the removal of a clocks change any time soon, but a lass can dream… Dream of lighter evenings where I feel safe to go on a run at 5 pm.

In the meantime, join me for the countdown to the Winter Solstice, marking the turning point for these shorter days.

A few things I’ve enjoyed this week:

🎥 Frankenstein: Outstanding cinema experience seeing Guillermo del Toro’s latest flick. Hugely recommend the big screen experience if you can! Nice to support independent cinemas over Netflix, too.

🎥 Black Bag

📚 The Unwilding by Marina Kemp

See you next week,

Ellen x

💌 About this email

I’m Ellen, and I write about mental health for the chronically online. I am a freelance copywriter, strategist and web designer, and I work from home with my husband, Craig, at Content By The Sea. We have two rescue greyhounds, Potter and Harmony, and a toddler.

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