Daylight saving time: Spring forward at 2 a.m. Sunday means gaining hour of sunlight

CLEVELAND - This is the weekend we lose an hour, but gain it in sunshine during the evenings. Before you head off to bed Saturday night (March 9), don't forget to "spring" your clocks ahead one hour. If you don't, you'll be late wherever you need to go on Sunday.

But losing an hour of sleep can have a big impact in what the Centers for Disease Control call a sleep epidemic in America. The integrated marketing communications firm, Marcus Thomas LLC, says the Monday after we "spring ahead" is historically plagued with sleep issues:

- Workers are less productive without sleep: 74 percent of workers over 30, who report not getting adequate sleep, say sleepiness affects their work
- Increase in traffic/machine accidents, with 40 percent admitting to actually getting into traffic accidents due to lack of sleep
- Measurable changes in attitude and morale: 39 percent of U.S. adults claim daylight saving time affects their mood
- U.S. adults typically feel affects of daylight saving time for days: 40 percent of U.S. adults say it takes them more than a week to get back to normal after resetting their clocks
- People do some odd things when they’re sleepy: from throwing away paychecks to stepping on cats or wearing underwear in the shower

There are solutions though. Check out the Better Sleep Council to read tips about easing into "spring ahead."

You don't have to worry about changing your electronic devices. Computers, cellphones, iPods and more will automatically change to the correct time around 2 a.m. Sunday.

As always, you will get that extra hour of sleep back in early November when the clocks "fall" back, officially ending daylight saving time for the year.

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So, what will you do with the extra hour of daylight? Tell us what you're most looking forward to in a comment below.