I do most of my arranging and composing between 4:30 and 6am on weekdays. That’s my sacred writing time and I can’t count on any extra time (though I sometimes steal time in the afternoons and evenings).
Today’s clock-switching marks the official end of my busy writing season. I take full advantage of the time shift in the fall, when it’s suddenly a lot easier to wake up at 4:30. Starting tomorrow, 4:30 will feel like 3:30, and I will struggle mightily to honor the alarm. Daylight Saving Time has a major negative impact on my musical output.
I do have some more writing projects to complete this spring, but none with a fast-approaching deadline.
Come fall, I will not depend quite so heavily on a 100-year old debunked time-shifting system. As I transition to all children in school, I look forward to writing more while the sun is in the sky.
I have been lucky that my busy season corresponded to Standard Time, though the extended Daylight Saving Time in the last few years has shortened my writing season. I don’t know what this change will mean for my early mornings; the quiet darkness is an old friend now but without necessity, I’m not sure I’ll seek it quite as eagerly.