Daylight savings in Florida a holiday? Why we fall back, change clocks

It’s November, meaning daylight saving time is about to end. Time to break out the Champagne? (Didn't think so.)

People who live in states that observe daylight saving time will turn their wall clocks back by one hour or “fall back” at 2 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Daylight saving time will begin at 2 a.m. EST Sunday, March 9, 2025, when we set clocks forward ahead one hour or “spring forward.”

For years, the practice of changing the clocks twice a year, disrupting sleep schedules and trying to adjust have made daylight saving time an unpopular topic. Bring it up in conversation, and you’re sure to find some people who like daylight saving time and others who loathe it.

At the heart of the matter, daylight saving time comes twice a year, and both days (when it begins and when it ends) revolve around a clock. Interestingly, there’s an actual holiday coming up that celebrates the end of time in a calendar year and also revolves around a clock: New Year’s Eve.

This holiday, however, is so beloved and universal. Champagne is common for this occasion.

Here are similarities and differences between daylight saving time and New Year’s Eve.

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Daylight saving time is a time change aimed to make better use of sunlight. New Year’s Eve celebrates the end of a calendar year.

There’s a beginning and an end to daylight saving time every year. Daylight saving time begins in the spring, the second Sunday of March, and ends in the fall, the first Sunday after Halloween.

New Year’s Eve, every Dec. 31, marks the end of a calendar year, sometimes the end of a decade (hello, 2019), or even the end of a century (remember 1999?). New Year’s Day, every Jan. 1, marks the beginning of a calendar year.

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Hear us out: For daylight saving time, people change their wall clocks by one hour (fall back or spring forward) at 2 a.m. EST.

Florida — and other states or areas in the Eastern Time Zone — always observe daylight saving time first. Picture it: When a smartphone reads 1:59 a.m. on the first Sunday after Halloween, the time on the smartphone will read 1 a.m. one minute later instead of 2 a.m. This marks the point at which we gain an hour.

For one hour each fall, we share the same time as people in the Central Time Zone. For people in Florida and states or areas of the EST, it is 1 a.m. One hour later, when the time “officially” reads 2 a.m. EST, is when people in states in the Central Time Zone will observe daylight saving time.

New Year’s Eve is a little like that concept: Florida and other areas or states in the EST will see the clock change from 11:59 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. first. In that timeframe of one minute, New Year’s Eve becomes New Year’s Day. At the same time, it is 10:59 p.m. in Central Time Zone, and their New Year’s Eve festivities continue for another hour until the clock strikes midnight their time.

For a visual, picture a nationally televised New Year’s Eve party where a giant clock is essentially the star and there's a celebrity host giving frequent updates on the time. Viewers can usually see in readouts or listen to the host's updates about what time it is in Florida vs. Illinois vs. Colorado vs. California and how much time is left until the clock strikes midnight.

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According to a post on psychologytoday.com, some people don't like daylight saving time because of the physical consequences changing the clocks has on the human body: "Daylight saving essentially puts us in another time zone without changing the day-night cycle. This misalignment asks the circadian clock to change our physiological rhythms and to do things at times that are not biologically appropriate."

People losing sleep or having to make adjustments are the main reasons for the discord against daylight saving time.

New Year's Eve, on the other hand, is simply watching the clock change from one minute to the next. There is no disruption to the body other than staying up later on one night a year to watch the time change.

New Year's Eve is a celebration full of traditions that involve eating, dancing, toasting with Champagne at midnight and watching fireworks. As mentioned above, there are nationally televised New Year's Eve celebrations around the world, and it's a social media phenomenon every year ... like clockwork. #NewYearsEve2024 #NewYearsDay2025 #NewYearsEve #NewYearsDay will trend on social.

In addition, New Year's Eve has its own world in pop culture: It's the name of a 2011 movie, "New Year's Eve," that's chock full of celebrities like Zac Efron, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank and Josh Duhamel. The romantic comedy has other fun cameos, too. Directed by Garry Marshall, the film's IMDB bio states: "The lives of several couples and singles in New York City intertwine over the course of New Year's Eve."

For those wondering, there is a film about daylight saving time.

In 2009, the independent film named "Daylight Saving Time" was released. Its IMDB bio states: "A group of people, challenged by the instructor of a time management seminar, use the extra hour of Daylight Saving Time to change their lives."

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.