The summertime change in 2022 will fall on the night of Saturday, March 26th to Sunday, March 27th. In smartphones, computers, or other electronic devices that have access to the Internet, the time will change by itself, but in analog watches and other devices that do not have connectivity to the Internet, we have to remember to change the time ourselves. Skipping this point can result in small delays.
Please note that if you have booked a tour with us on March 27th e.g. at 9:00 a.m. it will be at 10:00 a.m. in the old-time (winter time), so please do not forget to set your watch (preferably on March 26th), if it does not set automatically, because you may be late for your tour.
The summertime change is coming soon. On the night from 26 to 27 March, we will change our watches from 2 to 3 o’clock, and thus we will sleep one hour less. Why are we doing this at all?
During spring and summer, the “lighter” months, we move our clocks forward one hour to take advantage of the day, which is longer. Similarly, during the “darker” months we move it, mainly to shift the evening hours to earlier relative to the natural movement of the sun across the sky.
Theoretically, leaving aside habits or the side of communication between countries, transactions, etc., for us, is quite a positive aspect. In summer, we can enjoy the time outdoors with natural light longer. Since March in Poland, also the temperature is much more conducive to tourism, which encourages tourists to enjoy various walking tours of Krakow or the historic and famous areas of the capital of Malopolska.
The issue of eliminating the time change has been subject to discussion and negative public opinion for some time. According to surveys conducted in the European Union, it appears that more than 84% of those surveyed are strongly in favor of abolishing this operation within a year, so it may seem that it is only a matter of time until the changes come into force and the problem with changing watches completely disappear.
What happens that despite many considerations, there were no changes and still are not? It turns out that the main reason for the current state of affairs is the COVID-19 pandemic, through which the European Commission had to suspend the project. Another reason for this turn of events is the voluntary suspension of deliberations in the context of various countries. This is because due to their different geographical locations, they want to have full freedom to change the time during the year.
Even though they are not long-lasting, the time change complications that can be seen in people definitely create some confusion in their daily lives. Fortunately, they are limited only to problems related to the body’s natural adaptation to the new conditions. Sometimes it is difficult to “get into” the daily rhythm when the light, as well as weather conditions, change after this one designated night.
Apart from health issues, our sense of time or other problems resulting from the adaptation of the human body to time shifts – a very significant problem is the constantly developing technology and computerization, which encroaches into other areas of life. There is a reason why people have problems with setting one hour to a meeting during recently popular online work when everyone is in a different time sphere.
Computers, which today we have in most cases, are programmed in such a way that thanks to access to the Internet, they themselves can change the time twice a year. They know exactly when to achieve it, so they function for years, and mastering the time in the current system is not a big issue for them.
Much greater complications arise when it comes to communication between countries that have introduced time changes and those which do not practice it because there is no pre-imposed directive that each country has to comply with. Then, for example, all payments or other time-sensitive activities, such as ticket purchases, stock market transactions, bank flows, are based on time-synchronized systems.
One of the key reasons why this biannual time change was introduced is simply to make you feel better and use your day more efficiently, due to the position of the sun above the horizon. As you’ve probably noticed yourself, for humans, the best light for doing work, or daily pleasures, is natural daylight. Unfortunately, this argument has as many supporters as opponents. Numerous studies have not been able to conclusively establish which side is right. Some clearly show that adjusting your time relating to the season translates into efficiency at work and relatively better well-being, while others say that it has absolutely nothing to do with the way your body works and functions. Therefore, the advantages should perhaps be sought in the economic sector because the longer it is light, the more time people spend outside the house taking advantage of all sorts of services or benefits that a given city offers, and therefore, we spend more money.
If you are a tourist from another country, and you are currently staying or planning to come to the city of Krakow, we would like to remind you that the change to daylight saving time takes place on March 26th, which will give you an hour longer to enjoy sightseeing in the beautiful capital of Malopolska, and during the warm and long evenings to admire the views on a scenic cruise along the Vistula River.
Where did this ritual begin? As the story goes, it was Benjamin Franklin, well known to all, who contributed to the changing of watches. He noticed that people go to bed at a specific time, not following the sunset. This meant that artificial lighting had to be used, which contributed significantly to costs. So, he came up with the idea that people should go to bed later and get up earlier. Hence, the solution of moving the time on the clock – so that people went to bed when it got dark and got up when the sun rose. This is also called the natural human biological clock. It was then that people began to change the time from winter to summer and vice versa. The benefit was mainly the ability to use daylight, saving light sources, which at that time were candles.
Initially, the arguments presented by Benjamin Franklin were disregarded because he included in his work too few convincing postulates to convince the authorities to divide the year into summertime and wintertime. Nevertheless, he is widely recognized as the originator of such a change.
Rarely does anyone think about it, in fact, few people know that, for example, the hours in ancient Rome were flexible: longer or shorter depending on which time of year it suited. At that time, water clocks were commonly used for timekeeping and could be adjusted. Therefore, accepted differences in the duration of an hour could range from 44 minutes to as much as 75 minutes, depending on the time of day and year.
