Iowa, This Is How September Can Tank Your Productivity Level

Believe it or not, there's a legit reason you don't want to do anything at night in the fall.

I hate daylight saving time. I don't know why we're still doing it but I do know that starting on November 5th, we're all going to "fall back" and lose an hour of sleep and an hour of daylight.

That's still a little over a month away but September really kickstarts the process. WQAD says we lose an average of 2.5 minutes of daylight each day in September, making it the biggest decline in daylight for any month of the year.

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While you should definitely savor the extra hour of sleep over the next month, we're still losing daylight. According to the sunset forecast, over the month of October, sunsets will be in the 6:00 p.m. hour in the QC, creeping into the 5:00 hour by the end of the month. And this is all before the clock switches over.

Why You Can't Get Anything Done

After 5:00 p.m. in the fall, or whenever the sun goes down, I cannot get anything accomplished. Don't expect me to exercise, clean, or do anything productive. It's like my brain shuts off and can only accept Netflix and pajamas.

The lack of daylight basically takes away two key things from our bodies. UT Southwestern Medical Center says daylight saving time and less daylight do actually negatively impact us. They blame it on Vitamin D:

This means we get less exposure to the sun, which reduces the amount of vitamin D our bodies produce. Low levels of vitamin D are linked to low mood and depression, as well as fatigue, muscle pain, and weakened bones.

It's not only Vitamin D. Healing Holidays says the lack of sunlight means you generate less serotonin, which is the hormone that balances out our mood. That could be why you don't want to do anything when you leave your office and it's dark outside.

Of course, you'll lose sleep on top of that once the clocks change. So not only are you physically and mentally over it, but you're sleepy too. I love fall and all the holidays and warm fuzzy aesthetic stuff with it, but the "fall back" thing can smack it's own alarm clock.

Are you less productive in the fall? Let us know in the app chat!