Are you ready for Daylight Saving Time 2015? Spring forward. Fall back. Easy. And the good news is that tonight is the night to advance your clock an hour. Hurrah!

Sort of.

It turns out that not everyone is thrilled about Daylight Saving Time (DST). Some grumble. Or worse. If this sounds familiar, you might not enjoy reading (and watching) this “lose and hour, gain an hour” mashup. Sorry. For your benefit, here’s the skinny:

• 2am tomorrow morning will actually become 3am.
• You are off the hook until November!

See? That was easy! And for the rest of you, if your constitution allows, you might appreciate a slightly more granular look at DST including a pretty darned thorough video about DST history, etc.; five DST myths; and a swipe at the merits of DST.

Daylight Saving Time 2015 Mashup

[pullquote]The thought is enough to prompt a collective groan from the sleep-lovers among us…[/pullquote]

Many Americans will spring forward an hour to mark the beginning of daylight savings time (DST)—also known as daylight saving time—at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8. (nationalgeographic.com)

The second Sunday of March brings us Daylight Saving Time, or DST, and Standard Time returns on the first Sunday of November. In March, clocks are moved forward one hour from 2am standard time to 3am DST, and in November, clocks are moved back one hour from 2am DST to 1am standard time. (k2radio.com)

In the case of the United States where a one-hour shift occurs at 02:00 local time, in spring the clock jumps forward from the last moment of 01:59 standard time to 03:00 DST and that day has 23 hours… A digital display of local time does not read 02:00 exactly at the shift to summer time, but instead jumps from 01:59:59.9 forward to 03:00:00.0. (Wikipedia)

The thought is enough to prompt a collective groan from the sleep-lovers among us certain they will wake up a cranky mess Sunday, with a hangover into Monday. (NOLA.com)

Time for The Washington Pos‘s Rachel Feltman to debunk all of the conventional wisdom surrounding Daylight Saving Time.

Though DST has been part of life in the United States since World War I, its origin and effects remain misunderstood, even by some of the lawmakers responsible for it. Here are some common myths.

1. Daylight saving time was meant to help farmers.
2. The extra daylight makes us healthier and happier.
3. It helps us conserve energy.
4. DST benefits businesses.
5. Standard time is standard. (You can read her full treatment of each one of these at The Washington Post.)

[pullquote]Studies have suggested links between DST and a variety of disturbing social outcomes, including increases in heart attacks and upticks in criminal behavior…[/pullquote]

That third myth about energy conservation is the one that I’ve heard the most, and it inspired this thrilling morsel of shock-jockeying from from Forbes.com‘s Tom Zeller Jr.:

Whether or not this practice actually saves any energy — or has any ancillary social impacts, negative or positive — has been hotly debated and regularly researched over the years, often with conflicting results. Most recently, a 2014 study published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, seemed to corroborate what a number of other studies have already found: Daylight Saving Time, or DST, might do precious little to save energy, and may even increase energy consumption on the whole.

Meanwhile, other studies have suggested links between DST and a variety of disturbing social outcomes, including increases in heart attacks and upticks in criminal behavior… (forbes.com)

Explained: Daylight Saving Time 2015 (and Beyond)