Daylight Saving Time starts soon — are you ready to ‘lose’ an hour of sleep?

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Daylight Saving Time is just around the corner but it’s not too early to start thinking about how you can ease into “losing” an hour of sleep.

That’s right, at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, we will “spring forward” an hour to 3 a.m., meaning we will effectively lose an hour that night. According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), unless you ease into a new sleep schedule, the sudden time change can bring a higher risk of heart attack, lowered mood and increased irritation.

The good news, the earlier you start adjusting your sleep schedule, the easier the time change will be.

How to start adjusting for Daylight Saving Time

The Sleep Foundation, a group of medical advisors and product testers dedicated to sleep health, suggests starting to gradually shift your schedule in the week leading to the time change. In the days leading up to the time change, try going to bed 15 to 20 minutes earlier each day.

“The timing of other daily activities, such as meals and exercise, can also be gradually adjusted forward,” the Sleep Foundation said. “By making these small changes in advance, you begin daylight saving time having already started to acclimate to the new time on the clock.”

Other recommendations include relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and meditation, building a “sleep bank” with extra sleep and establishing good sleep habits before bed like going “device-free” for at least 30 minutes before bed.

Can’t we just stick to one time year-round?

The United States has been changing the clocks on the current cycle since the Uniform Time Act of 1966, as a means to add daylight to parts of the day where it’s needed during the summer and winter months.

The U.S. briefly removed time change in 1973, The Hill reports, when President Richard Nixon signed a bill for permanent Daylight Saving Time. According to The Hill, parents quickly lost interest when children were sent to schools in the dark as the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8 a.m. in some parts of the country.

Less than a year later, President Gerald Ford signed a bill that reintroduced standard time in the winter months. Since then, there have been several attempts to remove the time change at both the state and federal levels.

Currently, under the Uniform Time Act, states can adhere to standard time without observing Daylight Saving Time, though only Arizona and Hawaii have opted to make that change. The law, however, does not allow for states to observe only Daylight Saving Time.

Utah considered joining Arizona and Hawaii during the 2025 Legislative Session, with a bill that passed through the state’s House of Representatives with majority approval. However, the bill died just two weeks later when it failed to get the support of the Senate Business and Labor Committee.

In 2020, the Beehive State passed a bill that would allow Utah to be put on permanent Daylight Saving Time as soon as four western states pass to make a similar change and federal law allows it. More than four states have since committed to permanent Daylight Saving Time, meaning Utah is just waiting on federal approval.

President Donald Trump previously signaled that his administration would use “its best efforts” to eliminate Daylight Saving Time. On Truth Social, Trump called Daylight Saving Time “inconvenient” and “very costly to our Nation.”

Trump would need approval from Congress to eliminate Daylight Saving Time but has not set a date on when those efforts would move forward.