Sleeping In Shifts Has Been Around Longer Than the 8 Hour Stretch

Long before researchers were measuring and calculating every minute of our assigned 8 hours per night, people were not laying down for just one stretch of sleep.

Many say that’s thanks to the Industrial Revolution, when employers worked adults and children alike long hours, and were not at all interested in how rested their workers were.

But in the days of farming, it was much more understandable that if people rose with sun, they’d be exhausted, but they’d return home, eat, then sleep the first shift of the evening. After a few hours of rest, they’d wake again and participate in low-key activities like ready, sewing, and quiet time.

Could you live with 2-shift sleeping, rather than the full 8 at once?