Daylight savings 2026 starts this weekend, with most Americans set to move clocks forward and lose an hour of sleep. The change takes effect on Sunday, March 8, at 2 a. m. local time, when clocks jump ahead to 3 a. m. The shift pushes an hour of daylight from morning into the evening, a move that officials and health experts say carries real impacts on daily routines and sleep.
Daylight Savings 2026 timing and what changes Sunday
For nearly 20 years, the annual change has taken place on the second Sunday of March. The U. S. Naval Observatory, identified as the official source of time for the Defense Department, points to 2007 as the year the current start timing was set.
When the switch happens, most of the U. S. effectively trades earlier morning light for later evening light. A clear example comes from Boston: the National Weather Service notes that on Saturday, sunrise is at 6: 09 a. m. and sunset at 5: 41 p. m.; on Sunday after the time change, sunrise shifts to 7: 08 a. m. and sunset to 6: 42 p. m.
Daylight saving time will be in effect for 238 days, the National Institute of Standards and Technology states.
Immediate reactions: sleep expert warns of a deeper health strain
Dr. Nirupam Singh, Sleep Medicine Specialist at Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael, said the spring shift lands hard on people who are already short on rest. He pointed to approximately 85 million adults in the United States who experience chronic sleep deprivation, calling it a national health crisis that can be worsened by the loss of another hour.
Singh said the time change can have immediate ripple effects on sleep patterns and safety, adding that motor vehicle accidents have been shown to spike by 6% during the workweek immediately after the spring time shift. “Sleepy driving is drunk driving, ” Singh said.
He also emphasized broader health connections, saying sleep deprivation is associated with heart disease, blood sugar, cholesterol, strokes, and mental health issues such as depression. “Sleep deprivation is a public health crisis, and this one day kind of makes it worse, ” he said.
How to prepare before and after the switch
Singh urged families to start shifting their schedule in advance, recommending going to bed and waking earlier by 15-minute increments in the days leading up to the one-hour change scheduled for 2 a. m. Sunday.
After waking, he recommended exposure to early morning light to help reset the body clock. He also suggested keeping TV and phone screens out of the bedroom and avoiding late meals, both of which can disrupt bedtime routines. “Will power is very hard, but you just have to set up systems in place that allow you to do that, ” Singh said, describing household “systems” such as turning off WiFi earlier to encourage sleep.
Singh noted that not everyone is affected equally; impact depends on chronobiology, or body clock, including differences between night owls and morning people. He said adolescents naturally tend toward a delayed sleep phase, and he argued that screens and artificial light have altered circadian rhythms. For people struggling to fall asleep earlier, he recommended a “very low dose” of melatonin, between half a milligram and one milligram, preferably half a milligram taken around 6 or 7 p. m.
Quick context and what’s next after daylight savings 2026 begins
The U. S. has shifted its daylight saving schedule multiple times: prior to 2007 it began later in the year, and during the energy crisis of the 1970s Congress tried year-round daylight saving time before reverting back. The Congressional Research Service also documents that daylight saving time was first adopted in 1918 in an effort to conserve fuel during World War I, and was used again during World War II.
Looking ahead, daylight savings 2026 brings the immediate weekend change and a week of adjustment for many households. Phones should update automatically if set to do so, but the bigger question for millions will be how quickly their sleep schedules and morning routines settle after the clock jumps forward.
