What are some common mistakes that beginners make when working with dates in PHP?

One common mistake beginners make when working with dates in PHP is not setting the correct timezone, leading to inaccurate date and time calculations. To solve this issue, it is important to set the timezone using the `date_default_timezone_set()` function to ensure accurate date and time operations.

// Set the timezone to your desired timezone
date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');

// Now you can work with dates and times accurately
$currentDate = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
echo $currentDate;