Why Solar Time Matters

At 2 am, it was time to “spring forward.” As a result, moving our clocks ahead, we lost an hour of sleep.

Scholars wondered though how much a new clock time changed our behavior.

Daylight Saving Impact

In a recent study, researchers looked at more than one billion tweets, commuting times, and visits to retailers. Hoping to see how solar time affected our response to clock time, they compared the west and east end of the same time zone:

With Twitter (before it became X), we tweet predictably. Except for the “Good Nights” that peaked during the early morning, we tweeted breakfast, lunch, or dinner, “Good Morning,” and “Good Night” when you would expect.

However, it did depend on whether you were in the west or the east. Comparing times, the study observed that tweets sent from the west went out 22 minutes later than east end tweets where solar time was approximately an hour earlier.

Similarly, for commuting and shopping, having a later sun also appears to make a difference. In the west, people left for work approximately 22 minutes after the eastern group. As for shopping, the disparity between clock and solar time was there but less.

Next, assuming solar time could be more relevant for rural communities, researchers looked for a correlation. However, they found no tilt toward solar time for commuting departures, a small one for Twitter, and a more definitive one for foot traffic. Meanwhile, airport operations and retail outlets, religious and educational institutions all seemed to stick to clock time.

Our Bottom Line: Clock Time and Solar Time

So yes, November is delicious when we get an extra hour of sleep. And March is torture because we lose it. But, remembering solar time, it might not really be that full hour.

My sources and more: In the past, we’ve looked at the impact of daylight saving. Now, this 2023 NBER paper is a good complement as is this USA Today article.