You just woke up from a nap. The room is dim. You glance at your phone and see 6:30. Is it dinner time or did you just sleep through the entire night and you're late for work? We've all been there. Figuring out is it pm or am rn shouldn't be this hard, but our brains occasionally glitch when faced with the 12-hour clock. Honestly, it’s a bit weird that in 2026, we’re still tethered to a system that requires a Latin suffix just to know if we should be eating cereal or steak.
The Noon Confusion: Why is it PM or AM rn?
The biggest headache usually hits right at the transition points. 12:00 is the "boss fight" of timekeeping. Technically, is it pm or am rn when the sun is directly overhead?
💡 You might also like: How to Do a French Manicure at Home Without Looking Like a Disaster
Most of us have been taught that 12:00 PM is noon and 12:00 AM is midnight. But if you look at the Latin, that makes zero sense. "AM" stands for ante meridiem (before midday) and "PM" stands for post meridiem (after midday). Since noon is midday, it can’t be before or after itself. It’s just... the meridian.
This isn't just me being pedantic. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) actually recommends avoiding "12 AM" and "12 PM" altogether because they are technically ambiguous. They suggest using "12 Noon" or "12 Midnight" to keep people from missing flights or deadlines.
Why we don't just use the 24-hour clock
You’d think we’d just switch to military time and be done with it. Most of the world already has. In places like Germany, France, or Brazil, if you're meeting someone at 6:00 PM, you just say "18:00." No confusion. No accidental 6:00 AM wake-up calls.
But in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, we’re stubborn. We love our two 12-hour loops. It’s likely because our analog clocks—those round things with hands that some kids can't read anymore—only have twelve numbers. It’s a legacy of ancient Egyptian sundials. They divided the day into ten hours of sunlight, plus two hours of twilight, and then twelve hours of darkness. We’ve basically been using the same buggy software for over 3,000 years.
Telling Time Without a Screen
What if your phone dies? How do you know is it pm or am rn if you’re stuck outside? Kinda sounds like a survival movie plot, but it’s actually basic "humaning."
- The Sun Method: This is the obvious one. If the sun is in the East, it's AM. If it's in the West, it's PM. If it's directly above you and you're sweating, it's probably noon.
- The Shadow Trick: Stand with your feet toward the sun. In the AM, your shadow points West. In the PM, it points East. Also, the shorter your shadow, the closer you are to noon.
- The Finger Count: If you’re trying to see how much "PM" you have left before sunset, hold your hand out at arm's length. Stack your fingers between the sun and the horizon. Each finger represents about 15 minutes of daylight.
The Mental Toll of Time-Switching
It’s worth noting that our obsession with these specific markers affects our health more than we realize. Dr. Jamie Zeitzer from Stanford University has talked about how our internal circadian rhythms—our biological clocks—don't really care about AM or PM. They care about light.
✨ Don't miss: Blonde with Brown Lowlights: Why Your Stylist Probably Wants You to Do This
When we mess with the clocks during Daylight Saving Time, we’re essentially gaslighting our own brains. A study from the American Psychiatric Association showed that one in five people feel a significant hit to their mental health when the clocks shift. We start asking "is it pm or am rn" not because we don't have a clock, but because our bodies feel like it should be one while the clock insists it's the other.
Practical Tips to Stop the Confusion
If you’re tired of the 12-hour guesswork, here’s how to fix your life:
- Switch your phone to 24-hour time. It takes exactly three days for your brain to stop doing the "minus 12" math in your head. Once you see 17:30 and instantly know it’s evening, you’ll never go back.
- Use "Noon" and "Midnight" in emails. If you tell a client "let's meet at 12 PM," there is a 5% chance they show up at midnight (okay, maybe not, but they'll definitely pause to think).
- Check your alarm twice. The classic "PM" instead of "AM" alarm mistake is responsible for more missed classes and jobs than almost anything else.
Basically, the 12-hour clock is a clunky relic. It’s a bit like using a rotary phone in a world of fiber optics. We keep it around because it’s familiar, but it’s the reason we still have to ask is it pm or am rn when we wake up from a nap.
To avoid future mishaps, try setting your digital devices to the 24-hour format today. It eliminates the AM/PM ambiguity entirely and aligns your tech with how the majority of the world operates. You can usually find this in your "Date & Time" settings under "Use 24-hour format."