🧠 Here's How Daylight Saving Time Impacts Decisions & Spending

Today’s Edition of Captivated [LIVING]: Here’s How Daylight Saving Time Impacts Decisions, Spending, and More

“Don’t forget to Spring Forward...”

Every year, the clocks shift, and suddenly, the world feels slightly off.

Your sleep is wrecked, your energy is shot, and that online shopping cart is suspiciously full.

Turns out, losing (or gaining) an hour doesn’t just change the time, it also can impact how we think, spend, and function...

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⏩️ Too Busy Scrolling to Read the Whole Thing?

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• 🎧️ Listen: scroll all the way to the top and click: Listen Online

🧭 INSIDE THIS EDITION

• Spring Forward

• Smart Tool You Can Use #1

• Did You Know?

• The Brain Science Behind It

• Steal this Strategy for Yourself

• tl;dr

• Smart (& Free) Tool You Can Use #3

📈 DID YOU KNOW?

Online shopping increases 6-8% in the week after the clocks shift.

Tired brains = more passive scrolling, lower decision-making effort, and a greater chance of clicking “Buy Now.”

🧠

 .. The Brain Science Behind It..

Your brain runs on predictable rhythms. When those get disrupted, even by just an hour, it throws off so many things.

Your body doesn’t reset like a phone, it runs on circadian rhythms, your natural 24-hour cycle that controls sleep, energy, and focus.

These rhythms are regulated by light and a tiny timekeeper in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - basically, your body’s internal clock.

When the time shifts, that clock gets thrown off, and so do you, making everything from waking up to making decisions feel just a little harder.

When the clocks jump forward or back, it throws off:

🧠 Melatonin production: Your sleep hormone gets released later (or earlier), leaving you groggy or restless.

🧠 Cognitive speed: Thinking slows down, and decision fatigue sets in faster.

🧠 Impulse control: Your brain craves quick rewards ... hello, extra snacks and late-night shopping.

🧠  Focus and motivation: Productivity dips while distractions (social media, easy dopamine hits) become more appealing.

Studies show reaction times slow down as much as having a few drinks, and some research suggests people may gravitate toward more convenient and comforting purchases in the days after the change.

Additionally, heart attacks, car accidents, and impulse purchases all may spike after the time change. People are groggy, craving comfort, and less likely to think things through.

🥷

 .. Steal this Psychology for your Strategy ..

1 - Give Tired Brains Fewer Choices: 

Fatigued decision-making leads to choice overload. Reduce friction by simplifying menus, product options, or next steps ... whether that’s for customers, employees, or even your own to-do list.

• Use default selections (best-selling, most popular, or auto-recommended options).

• Break decisions into micro-steps (e.g., instead of “Pick a plan,” try “Choose your priority: Budget or Flexibility?”).

• If it’s a big decision? Delay it. Brain performance rebounds after 5-7 days.

2 -Tap Into the Need for Comfort & Routine: 

After a disruption, people gravitate toward familiar, predictable, and low-effort choices.

• Reinforce habits with reminders: scheduled emails, auto-renewals, or nudges to resume activities.

• Shift messaging to ease, consistency, and small wins (“No thinking required,” “Pick up where you left off”).

• If engagement is lagging? Reframe it as a reset. The time change makes people open to fresh starts: use that. A well-timed nudge like “Perfect time for a refresh - pick up where you left off!” can spark re-engagement without feeling like pressure.

3 - Adjust Timing to Match Attention Spikes: 

Morning focus tanks, but afternoon and evening engagement rise. Shift communication, marketing, or decision-heavy tasks to align with when people are likely to be more alert.

• Schedule emails, ads, or meetings later in the day instead of first thing in the morning.

• Time reminders and nudges for habit re-engagement after 3pm when brains are more active.

• If response rates seem off? Wait 24 hours. It’s a transition period, and attention rebounds quickly.

4 - Build in More Immediate Gratification: 

Slower brains crave instant rewards. Remove unnecessary delays or effort in anything requiring action.

• Shorten steps in workflows, purchases, or sign-ups: fewer clicks, fewer forms, faster paths to results.

• If offering incentives, make them immediate (e.g., “Claim your perk now” instead of “Apply this later”).

• Create tiny milestone: instead of a big goal, emphasize a quick first step that feels like progress.

✌️ 

 .. tl;dr & captivated wrap-up ..

Your brain hates sudden time shifts. It’s slower, more distracted, and more impulsive.

Decision fatigue can make people default to what’s easy, familiar, and rewarding ... orrr avoid action altogether.

Smart adjustments (like simplifying choices, shifting timing, and reinforcing habits) can keep you, and your customers, on track.

So if things feel off next week, it’s not you, it’s time travel (well, kind of). Adjust accordingly.

And don't forget to spring those clocks forward one hour on Saturday night!

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