LockTheClock

Fix Daylight Saving Time for good!

#LockTheClock

Fall Back to the Future – DST FAQ for the Easy Change in 2017

With the fall-back weekend here, this blog is getting lots of activity and I’m getting lots of requests for interviews, along with e-mails from fellow #LockTheClock citizens, etc.

To make it easy for everyone, here’s a quick FAQ:

I hate changing the clocks twice per year, what can I do?

Given the current situation in Washington, I don’t think there’s much we can do there.

But we can work at the state level. I recommend you find your state legislators, and contact them. Do it now, while most of them are not in session. They’ll be happy to hear from you. Then show them this page, and recommend that they try to pass a resolution.

I have an idea that will fix everything! Will you take my idea and run with it?

No. 

Sorry, but I get lots of emails from people who think they are the first person in the world to come up with the idea that we just move the clocks 30 minutes, or whatever. This is a complex problem, and there are no simple solutions.

Also, I come from the world of startups. What I’ve learned is that ideas are easy, doing the work to get an idea out there in the world is hard. This is a hard problem that will take years to fix.

I saw a funny meme once about DST. Have you seen it?

Probably. Either for the fall, or the spring.

My friend in Europe said they changed their clocks a couple of weeks ago. Why are we behind?

It will make you cynical, but the reason is The Swamp. Lobbyists from the candy industry gave a basket of candy to members of congress, and they extended DST until after Halloween for the safety of the children (and so they would have more time for trick-or-treating.) 

Fall-back-meme

Can’t I sign a petition or something?

You can. At last check there were 62 different petitions just on change.org. You could also just scream into a pillow. That one might make you feel better.

Look, change is hard, as they say. It’s coming, but it’s going to take a while. So:

It may take time and hard work, but anything worthwhile does.

Back to Basics to #LockTheClock

This spring, in the weeks before and after the time change, I did a bunch to try to #LockTheClock and stop the twice-annual insanity of changing in and out of Daylight Saving Time.

Then I got busy with the other parts of my life.

Well, I recently decided to step back and analyze the whole effort. Every bit. Every assumption, every hope, every idea.

What would the world be like after all of us join together to end the insanity?

I realized that so far, my efforts have all been in vain. 

MI-DST-testimony

Take a look:

  • I testified in four states (the photo is from my testimony in Michigan with the incomparable Rep. Peter Lucido.) In all four states, the bills died.
  • I didn’t testify in a couple dozen other states, but the bills met a similar end.
  • At least 68 people have tried to fix this with a petition. All those have gone nowhere.
  • More research comes out every month or so showing the dangers of DST clock changing, and still we are stuck with it.

Failure like that would make a lot of people… well… give up.

But, I’m an entrepreneur. Startups are the one place where failure is OK. Celebrated even.

I will not, however, keep doing the same things in the same ways, so that’s why I went back to the basics.

From that exercise, with some key help, I figured out two things:

  1. My underlying plan needs an overhaul, and…
  2. I need to make it easier for people to connect to this.

As for my underlying plan, I will let you know how that develops. I’m actually going to visit the heart of the matter, the Department of Transportation in Washington D.C. That’s where the Uniform Time Act is administered, and that’s the place with the people who understand the law better than anyone. I need to go there, and learn.

From that, I’ll come out with a new plan that works better on a technical level.

After that, the next job will be to find a way to make what can work on a technical level work on an emotional level as well.

There’s no question that many people feel the pain of DST clock changing, and aren’t afraid to express it in memes, videos, cartoons, articles and more. You can find all those on this blog.

But it hasn’t been enough. We haven’t yet reached the Tipping Point.

So, keep in touch and be sure to follow us on whatever social media is your thing to be able to learn how we’re going to be able to move forward.

Yours in sanity,

I remain,

-Scott

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