Which way do I have to change the clock on Sunday?

On the early morning of Sunday, 26 March 2023, we will change our clocks to daylight saving time. Read here the direction in which you have to turn it, how you can easily remember it, why we turn the clock at all - and how much it messes us up!

When do the clocks change? And in which direction?
The current winter time, or standard time, has been in effect in Switzerland from 30 October 2022, and the next change to the clocks will take place on 26 March, when the clocks will be turned forward one hour at 2 am. We will thereby lose one hour of sleep.

‘Daylight saving time’ will then apply until the last Sunday in October. We will gain an hour back again on 29 October, when 3 am then becomes 2 am again, and winter time will then apply.

How can I remember which way to turn the clock?
There are numerous mnemonic devices in different languages. An easy one in (American) English to remember which way the clocks go is: "Spring ahead, fall back." Or again: you place your garden furniture in front of the window in the summer, and bring them back in for the winter.

But how can I remember on which Sunday the time change takes place?
Unfortunately, there is no such good mnemonic here. But summer time applies from April, winter time from November. And because we don't want to change the time in the middle of the week, the changeover always happens on the last Sunday before April or November.

What does the change do to my body?
Although we only change the clocks by one hour, even this small change can confuse the body. On the first day with winter time, your body is already at 11 pm when the clock is only showing 10 pm: you therefore feel tired and want to go to sleep. On the first day with daylight saving time, your body feels as if it is still 5 o'clock in the morning, but the alarm clock shows 6 o'clock and rings: You feel tired.

There are studies that report increased health problems in the first days after the changeover. Traffic accidents are also said to occur more frequently. How long a person takes to adapt to the change can vary greatly.

According to Ulrich Hemmeter, sleep physician and head of geriatric and neuropsychiatry at the St.Gallen North Psychiatric Clinic in Wil, the time change affects about one in five people more intensely.

At 2 o'clock in the morning it suddenly becomes 3 o'clock: At the end of March we change our clocks to daylight saving time                       Photo: Grisslee

Why does my body have trouble with the change?
"Basically, it's a kind of mini-jet lag," says Ulrich Hemmeter. The fact that it doesn’t affect everyone in the same way has to do with our inner clock. The body follows a rhythm that it wants to keep as constant as possible, as this saves energy. "But if something throws us out of this rhythm, like the time change, the body has to synchronise itself again”. That takes energy, and we feel tired, listless and unfocused.

The time change causes something else as well. "Our body has a biological circadian rhythm that lasts about 24 hours. We are synchronised to a 24-hour rhythm by our environment."

Some people, the so-called ‘larks’, have a shorter rhythm (for example 23 hours): they become tired early in the evening and are more alert in the morning. Other people have a rhythm that lasts longer than 24 hours. These so-called ‘owls’ stay awake longer or don’t feel sleepy in the evening, but have a harder time getting out of bed in the morning.

"When we lose an hour due to the time change in spring, that represents a minor problem for the larks. Their bodies tend to be anyway adjusted to less than 24 hours a day." It’s more of a problem for owls in spring, because their biological rhythm is already longer and the one hour shorter day during the changeover impact them more than the larks.

It's the other way round in the autumn, when the larks have more problems. In general, however, the changeover in autumn is less of a problem than in spring. This is similar to a flight over time zones: westbound flights cause fewer problems than eastbound flights.

How can I bring my biorhythm back in order?
The best thing is not to let yourself get to the point where you have problems with your rhythm. Prepare yourself smoothly for the changeover to summer time. If you have had trouble with the changeover in the past, sleep physician Ulrich Hemmeter recommends the following process: "In the days before the changeover to daylight saving time, let the alarm clock ring a few minutes earlier each day, and go to bed a little earlier at the same time." In this way, you can slowly get used to the new rhythm.

If you missed the preparation and have problems after the changeover, one thing is most important: "Make sure you stay awake during the day! Force yourself into the new rhythm." What also helps is natural light. "Go outside in the morning. And also when you feel tired during the day," recommends the head physician of the St.Gallen North Psychiatric Clinic.

Why is there actually a summer and a winter time?
‘Summer time’ is also known as Daylight Saving Time. The term shows what it is all about: making better use of daylight. Without the time change, it would already be bright early in the morning in the summer, when most of us are still asleep, and we thereby don’t benefit from it. But then it will be dark earlier in the evening, when many of us are still active.

With the changeover, you can thereby theoretically also save energy in the evening. This was a particularly convincing argument, for example, in the oil crisis in the 1970s. Normal time is thereby actually the time in winter, although this only applies for five months in the year, whereas summer time lasts seven months.

Shouldn't this changeover have been abolished long ago?
Yes, there have been such efforts. The main argument is that the energy-saving effect is practically unproven, while many people have health problems as a result. Ulrich Hemmeter says: "From a chronobiological point of view, the time change makes no sense, it would be best to do without it.

The European Parliament has already advocated abolishing the time change, although the EU Commission has also previously spoken out in favour. 2021 should thereby have been the last year with the time change. But the EU member states have not yet been able to reach an agreement. For example, it has not yet been finally clarified which time should apply in the future. And a patchwork solution in Europe should be avoided. Switzerland introduced daylight saving time in 1981 for the same reason: It no longer wanted to be a isolated time island.

Nevertheless, there have been various efforts in this country to abolish daylight saving time again - even in the first year after its introduction. But the initiative "to abolish daylight saving time" failed at the signature collection stage.

The popular initiative "Yes to the abolition of the time changeover", which was launched in 2019, suffered the same fate. Its initiative committee included SVP politician and National Councillor (Nationalrätin) Yvette Estermann, who had already tried to abolish daylight saving time with several initiatives.

What would be the consequences of abolishing the time change?
That depends on which time is abolished. If daylight saving time is abolished, it will become dark earlier on summer nights. If winter time is abolished, it will become light (even) later in the morning during the cold season, compared to today.

For Ulrich Hemmeter, as a sleep physician, it's clear which time should apply forever after an abolition: "Winter time is better adapted to human biology. If daylight saving time were to be retained in winter, it would not be light until 9 or 9.30 am in winter, which would have serious effects on mood and performance."