Twice a year, residents of nearly the entire nation and many parts of the globe all must endure the disorienting feeling that something is off. More specifically, the time is off.

The clocks are wrong, the sun is in the wrong place at the wrong time, everyone’s routine is thrown through a loop and the general energy around everyone is just… off. This is because of the strange and more-than-not unnecessary daylight savings time tradition.

March 12 began this year’s daylight savings time, where the sun rises earlier in the day, around 6:40-7 a.m., which allows for sunlight to remain for most of the day’s duration, with sundown often beginning around 5 p.m.

The explanation for this is to allow for greater productivity during the day and save energy by utilizing more sunlight. It’s a noble reasoning, however, it has its issues.

The human body needs sunlight for energy, to adjust one’s circadian rhythm. Many people must wake up before sunrise to get ready for work, school or any other responsibilities. Waking up in the darkness of night to start the day is incredibly exhausting and discouraging.

This is the standard for much of the entire year. Many people have trouble falling asleep and waking up early during daylight savings time, especially during the first few weeks of the adjustment period.

After all of that, one may expect that once standard time returns everything would be solved, however that is not exactly true either.

Standard time presents its own myriad of issues. While sunrise is earlier in the morning, which coincides with the schedule of many, the downside resides at the other side of the day. Particularly, during sundown.

During standard time, the sun will begin to set around 4:40-5 p.m. Meaning that perceptually, the day will end earlier than before. The limited amount of daylight during the evening makes people naturally tired earlier and discourages productivity during those hours. These hours are especially valuable, as it is when many return from the standard 9 to 5 work schedule. People also generally spend more money on electricity during standard time, as they will need to utilize more interior lighting due to the lack of sunlight during the evening.

This leads to many wondering what the ideal solution is. Both have their pros and cons, and many feel that daylight savings time should be either applied all year around, or completely eliminated as a whole.

The Senate recently approved a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent. However, members of the House of Representatives have yet to make their decision. This is not too uncommon, as the government has been trying to both solidify and abolish daylight savings time for decades, with there never being a concrete outcome.

While there are pros and cons to both daylight savings time and standard time, the hard decision should be made to streamline the entire process and keep a permanent standard. While daylight savings is easier on the wallet, standard time is more catered to the body’s natural sleeping process, lessening health risks.

There seems to be no end in sight to the annual daylight savings time routine, however, the entire concept of two different time sets during the year is in dire need of elimination or reevaluation.