Fall Back: 5 Unusual Ways to Celebrate the End of Daylight Saving Time
Are you ready to turn back your clock at 2 a.m. Nov. 1? With the end of Daylight Saving Time just around the corner, there’s plenty more to do than adjust the clocks in your home and vehicle. From tips on how to adjust your bedtime to finding just the right film to watch after the end of Daylight Saving Time, there are a few ways you can prepare for the change in time.
1. Rise and Shine
Getting everyone in your household adjusted to the change in time doesn’t have to be a time-consuming task. If you want to get a jumpstart on the change in time, you can adjust your sleep schedule. According to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, you should move bedtime and wakeup time by 15 minutes later every other day starting about a week in advance of the end of Daylight Saving Time. Got kids or a pet? Then remember that small children and Fido can’t tell time. For a smoother transition, Dr. Marty Becker writes in The Huffington Post that dog owners should start by moving back mealtimes by about 15 minutes every day in advance of the end of Daylight Saving Time. You may also adjust your dog’s bathroom breaks so that your dog—and you—can sleep in a bit after the change in time. The result? The entire family can be on the same sleep schedule.
2. Make Time Traveling Part of Your Weekend
Setting your clock back by one hour this weekend is likely the closest you’ll ever get to time travel. So why not do some armchair time traveling by reading a book or two? NPR recommends several books focused on traveling back in time, with Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” and H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” among the titles on the list. If you’d prefer watching a film in honor of the occasion, then check out the recommendations from Rolling Stone, which include the 1985 hit “Back to the Future.”
3. Pack Your Bags
Desperate times can call for desperate measures. If you truly dislike adjusting your clocks so much that you want to completely escape the tradition, there are a few U.S. states and territories that do not “fall back” in the autumn. As noted by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time. NIST also notes other places that don’t tinker with time include Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
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4. Explore the Concept of Time
You may know to turn your clock back by one hour, but have you ever thought how the concept of time has evolved in history? If that’s the case, then make seeing a museum exhibit on the topic part of your weekend plans. For instance, there’s the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut, and the exhibit “Time and Navigation” at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
5. Take Care of Home Maintenance
When it comes to home maintenance, there’s more to do on Nov. 1 than turn back your clocks by one hour. The International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends changing batteries in smoke detectors when you change the clocks in your home. It’s also time to tackle that pile of expired food and medication you no longer need, with Good Housekeeping recommending that you clean out your medicine cabinet and pantry at the end of Daylight Saving Time. Other recommendations for home maintenance tasks to complete this weekend include turning your mattress and reversing ceiling fans.
Saying goodbye to Daylight Saving Time doesn’t have to be a dull experience. With some planning, you can welcome the change in time and have some fun along the way.
