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The Risky Side of Springing Forward

A local sleep expert examines the darkest day of daylight savings

0315daylightssavings

This article originally appeared in the March 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.

Prepare for a bit of time travel this month: Sunday, March 8, was the day we sprang forward one hour in the name of longer, lighter evenings. But it’s not all kayaking after work and eating picnic dinners. Assistant professor Christopher Barnes of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business has been studying the dark side of daylight savings in terms of behavior changes witnessed on the Monday after the time change—sometimes known as Sleepy Monday, or more ominously, Risky Monday.

The 40 minutes of sleep most Americans lose as that Sunday turns to Monday turns out to have a significant impact. Barnes has found “a spike of 5.6 percent in work injuries, 2 percent in cyberloafing and a drop of about 4 percent in moral awareness.” That last stat doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to start shoplifting on Risky Monday, but a 2014 study Barnes cowrote found that sleep-deprived people are less likely to notice when others are engaged in unethical behavior, and less able to judge the ethics of a situation.

On the specific Monday in question, he found a significant drop in web searches for “moral words” (“unethical,” “corrupt,” “guilty”), suggesting that people aren’t terribly worried about ethics that day. The good news, Barnes says, is that sleeping in just 30 minutes on that Monday can split the likelihood of making bad choices in half. So you might consider calling in sleepy.  

 

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

Dance, drag, and immersive art collide in an eight-week exploration of our phone-obsessed lives, with a few surprises along the way. 

What do drag queens, smartphone addiction, art installations, and an old luggage shop have in common?  According to longtime Seattle choreographer Alana O’Farrell Rogers, a lot.  “There’s no dead time anymore,” says Rogers, explaining how the proliferation of smartphones fills the empty spaces that once served as time for rest or connection. Where we snuggled…

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Ahead of their performance at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture gala, the hip-hop pioneers talk about creative ownership, connecting with new generations, and the songs that still resonate.

The Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) will host its annual ICONS of Pop Culture Gala in Seattle on October 22, honoring five artists and institutions whose work has helped shape entertainment and culture.  This year’s honorees are martial arts and film legend Bruce Lee, fashion designer Jeremy Scott, the video game franchise Halo, hip-hop pioneers…

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Drawing on childhood memories, neighborhood history, and salvaged materials, Christopher Paul Jordan’s latest show at Cornish’s Behnke Family Gallery explores how the past stays with us.

Start in the middle. It’s good advice for telling a story, and a way into Christopher Paul Jordan’s paintings. By the time you encounter them, their materials have already been something else, and who knows what they might move on to become. The Tacoma interdisciplinary artist works with salvaged objects, including screens, picture frames, canvas,…

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

WEDDING BELLS I’ve been a bit absent from this column lately, but I think I have a pretty good excuse: I got married! It’s already been three weeks since my September 19 wedding, but I’m still reflecting on the magic of the day. My fiancé, well husband now (I can’t get used to saying it!),…