Copyright The Boston Globe
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 2. That’s when we “fall back” by moving our clocks back one hour. It’s a good idea to just shift manual clocks before you go to bed on Saturday night, so you don’t forget. Your cellphone should change automatically to and from daylight saving time since it’s built into the operating system. Other clocks, however, will need to be changed manually. The end of daylight saving time shifts both sunrise and sunset an hour earlier. On the East Coast, that means sunrises closer to 6:30 a.m. (for at least a month before reverting to around 7 a.m. in early December) while sunsets shift to around 4:30 p.m. (4:20 p.m. after Thanksgiving). Sunrise on Sunday, Nov. 2, will occur at 6:19 a.m. and the sun will set earlier — at 4:35 p.m. And, accordingly, come Monday when you head back to work or school, sunrise will be at 6:20 a.m., sunset at 4:34 p.m. Meanwhile, daylight will continue to diminish until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. Daylight saving time will make its return on Sunday, March 8, 2026, the second Sunday of the month. That’s when we move our clocks forward. A good way to remember it is to think of the arrival of spring – hence we “spring forward.” Daylight saving time started in the United States in 1918 during World War I (back then it was known as “war time”). Today, every state, except Hawaii and parts of Arizona, observes the tradition. The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe the practice. Fire officials say the changing of the clocks is also a great opportunity for homeowners to change the batteries in their smoke detectors and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms if the devices are less than 10 years old. Also, remember to test your alarms once a month to be sure they’re working properly. Modern smoke and carbon monoxide alarms have the manufacturing date printed on the back of the detector. Jon Davine, state fire marshal for Massachusetts, said smoke alarms should be replaced after 10 years, and CO alarms should be replaced according to the manufacturer’s instructions — usually five, seven, or 10 years, depending on the make and model. Davine offered the following tips when buying a new smoke detector: • Choose photoelectric alarms from a well-known, national brand. • Look for the mark of an independent testing lab like UL or Intertek/ETL. • Select alarms with a sealed, long-life battery and a “hush” feature. • Alarms that meet UL Standard 217, 8th edition or later, use the latest multi-criteria technology to reduce nuisance alarms caused by cooking smoke. Because of the increased darkness in the morning and afternoon, switching back to standard time can sometimes affect our mental health and physical well-being in different ways. According to Dr. Michelle DiBlasi, chief of inpatient psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center, with less exposure to sunlight, “there are lower levels of active serotonin in our brains, leading to certain people feeling more depressed. Secondly, with increased darkness, people often produce more melatonin in their brains that can make them feel more down or sluggish,” interfering with our ability to maintain a consistent sleep-wake schedule. “These hormonal disruptions can confuse the body into actually thinking that it is nighttime, and thus having the need to sleep more, and experiencing less energy,” said Dr. David Mischoulon, a professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Experts say there are ways to handle this biannual transition and the inevitable winter doldrums. “People can make an effort to go out more, because any exposure to the outdoors, even during the winter months, exposes you to sunlight, which can help,” Mischoulon said. DiBlasi said she always recommends that people really make the time to “take good care of themselves” as the year winds down and the days shorten. “Sometimes little changes in your routine can have a big impact on improving your mood,” DiBlasi said, noting that “things like eating a well-balanced and healthy diet, exercising regularly and prioritizing a good routine before bed so that you can get a good night’s sleep” are all effective in boosting your mood. Equally important, she said, is staying “socially connected, because it can be easy to isolate in the winter months, which may make you feel worse and more alone.” For young children, sleep experts and pediatricians shared these tips for parents to help them adjust and minimize disruption. Sign up here for our daily Globe Weather Forecast that will arrive straight into your inbox bright and early each weekday morning.
