Why NJ should try something new after clocks fall back on Nov. 1

We're now approaching the end of Daylight Saving Time in New Jersey, and everyone has an opinion on it. The clock change, by the way, will happen on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. We'll essentially repeat the 1 a.m. hour and gain the extra hour of sleep, but trade it in for darker evenings.

But the reality is, we don't really gain or lost anything when we do this. We're so conditioned to believe we lose sunlight when we fall back, but all we're doing is shifting the clocks. Animals don't do this, and are unaffected by what a clock says.

Our pets, on the other hand, are forced to change with our practice of doing this. It really is an outdated practice, but we can't stop it just like that simply because we'll either complain about it being too dark in the evenings when we fall back, or whine and moan when we lose the hour of sleep when we spring forward..

It should be a lot simpler. And for those of us in New Jersey, it can be. Here's what I think we should do.

Time clocks calendar thumbs up green check approve sunrise sunset

Leave the clock & adjust our day

When I worked on a golf course, all we did was adjust when we came in based on when the sun came up. During the longer days, we started at 6 a.m. And when the sunrise was later than 6 a.m., we adjusted our start time to 7 a.m.

Why can't we just do this when it comes to work and school? Let's fall back to Standard Time one last time since that's the one truly aligned with the Earths rotation. During the winter, make the regular workday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then adjust it to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the summer. It's just that simple.

In other words, we'd be following Natural Daylight Time. Just get rid of the clock change after Nov. 1, and adjust our day based on the sunrise. Problem solved.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.