Is One Sleep Per Night Enough You May Need Two

Imagine a world in which everyone is a night owl. Everyone, including you, goes to sleep soon after the sun sets. But then everyone rises a few hours later – and not because they can’t sleep, but because it’s the end of the nights first sleep. While youre up, you do your best thinking. You use the wee hours of the pitch-black night to make plans, record your most profound thoughts, and reflect. Afterwards, you retire for your second sleep. As dawn breaks, you wake up with the sun. During the day, you operate at maximum capacity; you never experience an afternoon energy slump, nor drowsily crave a catnap after lunch. Sound farfetched? This is not a scene from a science fiction tale, nor is it a new nocturnal trend among Millennials. Whether this sounds outlandish to you or not, know this: the way we sleep now, consisting (hopefully) of one long stretch, is a modern invention – and it may not be in our best interest. There’s compelling evidence that prior to the invention of the light bulb, when only fire fueled nightly illumination, human beings went to sleep soon after the sun set and slumbered in two parts: they fell into a â€Å"first sleep,† woke up for a couple hours, and then fell back into a â€Å"second sleep.† So claims historian A. Roger Erkich, whose 16-years of fascinating research led to the discovery that pre-industrial societies – on different continents – engaged in â€Å"segmented sleep† (he wrote a book about it, too). David K. Randall’s article â€Å"Rethinking Sleep† describes how Erkich started off researching â€Å"the history of the night and began to notice strange references to sleep.† Digging further, he saw that plenty of literary and historical references alluded to the standardized practice of segmented sleep. A few examples include: â€Å"a character in the Canterbury Tales [who]†¦decides to go back to bed after her ‘first sleep,’† and â€Å"a doctor in England [who] wrote that the time between the ‘first sleep’ and the ‘second sleep’ was the best time for study and reflection.† In the â€Å"The Myth of the Eight-Hour Sleep,† Stephanie Hegarty provides even more description of the interval between each sleep period: â€Å"During this waking period people were quite active. They often got up, went to the toilet or smoked tobacco and some even visited neighbors. Most people stayed in bed, read, wrote and often prayed. Countless prayer manuals from the late 15th Century offered special prayers for the hours in between sleeps.† But not everyone prayed. Hegarty quotes a couple of lines from an early English ballad, Old Robin of Portingale: And at the wakening of your first sleepe You shall have a hott drinke made, And at the wakening of your next sleepe Your sorrowes will have a slake. Maybe that’s a good suggestion for the next bout of insomnia. In any case, all this begs the question: why is segmented sleep not a part of our lives today? As Hegarty describes it, with the advent of street lamps in 17th century, coffee houses that remained open at night, and a growing acceptance of the night as a â€Å"legitimate place of activity,† it became more fashionable to spend the evening out rather than at home in bed. About this time, long-held, menacing beliefs about the night also started to lose steam. In his book Evening Empire , Craig Koslofsky wrote: â€Å"Associations with night before the 17th Century were not good†¦The night was a place populated by people of disrepute – criminals, prostitutes and drunks.† As popular perceptions of the night changed, there was growing acceptance of casting aside segmented sleep in favor of the singular variety. The dawning of the Industrial Revolution only sped along that process. â€Å"By the 1920s the idea of a first and second sleep had receded entirely from our social consciousness,† wrote Hegarty. Now, given the 21st century ubiquity of electricity and electronic gadgets – including â€Å"cities that never sleep† – would â€Å"modern† humans even be capable of re-adjusting to two sleep periods per night? It appears so. Randall’s article also references a study that psychiatrist Thomas A. Wehr conducted in the early 1990s, in which study participants went without any means of artificial light for fourteen hours a day, for 30 days. At the beginning of the study, participants slept through the night. But by the end of the study all the participants had developed the same nightly pattern: they fell asleep for four hours, woke up for approximately two, and fell back asleep for a final four. What does this say about the widely accepted belief that we need eight hours of sleep per night? In an interview with Laura Blue, sleep expert Daniel Kripke eschewed the idea that eight hours of uninterrupted sleep is the dictum we should go by because there is simply no science to back that up. In fact, â€Å"studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hours and 7.5 hours a night†¦live the longest†¦people who sleep 8 hours or more, or less than 6.5 hours†¦dont live quite as long. There is just as much risk associated with sleeping too long as with sleeping too short.† And in her article, Hegarty quotes sleep expert Gregg Jacobs as saying: â€Å"For most of evolution we slept a certain way†¦waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology.† So maybe we can give ourselves a break next time we are wide awake in the wee hours of the night, considering that it was something our ancestors did for thousands of years! â€Å"One of the reasons I like to publicize these facts is that I think we can prevent a lot of insomnia and distress just by telling people that short sleep is OK. Weve all been told you ought to sleep 8 hours, but there was never any evidence,† said Kripke in Blue’s interview. There are a couple of takeaways here: we should aim for the amount of sleep that allows us to feel good during the day, and if that’s not in an eight hour block, then that’s OK, too. For some of us, this means that a daily nap may be just as important as that first cup of coffee in the morning. And for all of us, this means that what works for us individually won’t apply to everyone. Because while we may all have different sleep needs, we generally want the same thing: to feel rested enough so that we can be productive, successful people during the day – even if this means we need that â€Å"hott drinke† to slake our thirst at night. Photo courtesy of Renaud Camus. Grow your leadership capabilities with an MBA in international business at Hult. To learn more, take a look at our blog A new model for leadership development in the 21st century, or give your career a boost with our Masters in International Business. Download a brochure or get in touch today to find out how Hult can help you to learn about the business world, the future, and yourself. 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We look for diverse students with a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and interests—students who will thrive in our unique educational atmosphere. Are you ready for a truly global experience? 📠¸: @iambrunadiniz . Each year, Hult seeks to enroll a talented and ambitious incoming class from all over the world. We look for diverse students with a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and interests—students who will thrive in our unique educational atmosphere. Are you ready for a truly global experience? 📠¸: @iambrunadiniz . We’re excited to start 2020 on a ranking high! Hult is proud to have been placed #28 in Poets Quants 2020 rankings for Best Undergraduate Business Schools in the US. Taking a huge leap of 32 places from our 2019 position, we’re also very happy to have secured top positions in key categories like: life-changing experience, practicality of the degree, and global immersion. . With five global campuses, a student body of over 130 nationalities, and a learn-by-doing approach—Hult offers a student experience like no other. . We’re excited to start 2020 on a ranking high! Hult is proud to have been placed #28 in Poets Quants 2020 rankings for Best Undergraduate Business Schools in the US. Taking a huge leap of 32 places from our 2019 position, we’re also very happy to have secured top positions in key categories like: life-changing experience, practicality of the degree, and global immersion. . With five global campuses, a student body of over 130 nationalities, and a learn-by-doing approach—Hult offers a student experience like no other. . â€Å"I’m from an engineering background and needed a whole new skill set for the industry I wanted to switch to. I learned a lot about myself and how I deal with being out of my comfort zone. I learned both soft and hard skills, from how to work in very diverse teams to key accounting metrics and strategy. I was surprised by how weak I was at certain tasks in English or how strong I actually was in other areas. Hult gave me opportunities to try new things and meet people from places I never thought I would have friends. . My internship experiences gave me the chance to broaden my view of different cultures and different companies. I had the opportunity to work and live with people whose values differed from people in my home country. I thought that this would be difficult, but it gave me the chance to reflect on my own values and assess if they were a result of my home country environment or if they were intrinsically mine. . Diederick ter Kulve (@diederick.terkulve) Netherlands Masters in International Business . â€Å"I’m from an engineering background and needed a whole new skill set for the industry I wanted to switch to. I learned a lot about myself and how I deal with being out of my comfort zone. I learned both soft and hard skills, from how to work in very diverse teams to key accounting metrics and strategy. I was surprised by how weak I was at certain tasks in English or how strong I actually was in other areas. Hult gave me opportunities to try new things and meet people from places I never thought I would have friends. . My internship experiences gave me the chance to broaden my view of different cultures and different companies. I had the opportunity to work and live with people whose values differed from people in my home country. I thought that this would be difficult, but it gave me the chance to reflect on my own values and assess if they were a result of my home country environment or if they were intrinsically mine. . Diederick ter Kulve (@diederick.terkulve) Netherlands Masters in International Business . Say a big hello to our Bachelor of Business Administration program cover star, Elisa Orus Plana âÅ" ¨ . â€Å"I’m excited for the future—especially that I cant predict whats going to happen. Maybe Ill end up in Mexico working for a trading company or maybe in Africa, developing my own business. Everything is possible, and the options are constantly changing. I love the idea that Im never going to be stuck doing the same job until the end of my life if I dont want it to be like this. . Hult really supports me and my ambitions and truly believes that we deserve to be considered as professionals as well as students. Here, I get to express not just my opinions but all elements of myself. From my creative side with the Fashion Society to my finance and business sides in Trading Club and the Management Consulting Club. We get a different type of learning here. Not just essential knowledge and theory, but practical skills and mindset. The school is always evolving. We’re encouraged to innovate and to always look for new ways of doing traditional things. We learn how to be more confident and become aware of how we can impact our environment. The school aims to help you become a better version of yourself and to stand out from the crowd.â€Å" . Elisa Orus Plana French Bachelor of Business Administration Class of 2021 Say a big hello to our Bachelor of Business Administration program cover star, Elisa Orus Plana âÅ" ¨ . â€Å"I’m excited for the future—especially that I cant predict whats going to happen. Maybe Ill end up in Mexico working for a trading company or maybe in Africa, developing my own business. Everything is possible, and the options are constantly changing. I love the idea that Im never going to be stuck doing the same job until the end of my life if I dont want it to be like this. . Hult really supports me and my ambitions and truly believes that we deserve to be considered as professionals as well as students. Here, I get to express not just my opinions but all elements of myself. From my creative side with the Fashion Society to my finance and business sides in Trading Club and the Management Consulting Club. We get a different type of learning here. Not just essential knowledge and theory, but practical skills and mindset. The school is always evolving. We’re encouraged to innovate and to always look for new ways of doing traditional things. We learn how to be more confident and become aware of how we can impact our environment. The school aims to help you become a better version of yourself and to stand out from the crowd.â€Å" . Elisa Orus Plana French Bachelor of Business Administration Class of 2021"> During the final days of 2019, you probably reflected on what you’ve accomplished this year—and even this decade—and what you’d like to achieve in 2020. Let us know in the comments below. During the final days of 2019, you probably reflected on what you’ve accomplished this year—and even this decade—and what you’d like to achieve in 2020. Let us know in the comments below. â€Å"The first time we did group work on the program, I went head-to-head with a colleague. It taught me a lot about how I see people, how people see me, and how conflict can be resolved in a kind and productive way. The best feedback you get, when delivered constructively, is the most critical because it really feeds into how you lead. I’ve completely reversed my leadership style—the result is so much richer and more powerful when you lead from behind and lead with strength. . Studying in tandem with working, whilst challenging, gave me the perfect platform to directly apply learning concepts into my business environment, the competitive landscape, and the real-estate industry as a whole. When I started the program, I was very happy in my corporate role. But my courage and aspirations grew to the point that I took on a whole new direction. Having my career coach, Joanna, as a sounding board allowed me to really be strategic and get to know myself. She coached me thro ugh all the interviews, the research, and the questions. It went in parallel with what I was doing academically and after six months everything just clicked. . I went into the EMBA knowing I had nothing to lose and I’ve come out with everything. Great strength, global friends, amazing learning, mentors from professors, a job I love, and the knowledge that I can set my mind to achieve anything and with the right support and resources I’ll get there.† . Kashani Wijetunga British, New Zealand Sri Lankan Associate Director Senior Strategy Consultant CBRE EMBA Class of 2019 . â€Å"The first time we did group work on the program, I went head-to-head with a colleague. It taught me a lot about how I see people, how people see me, and how conflict can be resolved in a kind and productive way. The best feedback you get, when delivered constructively, is the most critical because it really feeds into how you lead. I’ve completely reversed my leadership style—the result is so much richer and more powerful when you lead from behind and lead with strength. . Studying in tandem with working, whilst challenging, gave me the perfect platform to directly apply learning concepts into my business environment, the competitive landscape, and the real-estate industry as a whole. When I started the program, I was very happy in my corporate role. But my courage and aspirations grew to the point that I took on a whole new direction. Having my career coach, Joanna, as a sounding board allowed me to really be strategic and get to know myself. She coached me thro ugh all the interviews, the research, and the questions. It went in parallel with what I was doing academically and after six months everything just clicked. . I went into the EMBA knowing I had nothing to lose and I’ve come out with everything. Great strength, global friends, amazing learning, mentors from professors, a job I love, and the knowledge that I can set my mind to achieve anything and with the right support and resources I’ll get there.† . Kashani Wijetunga British, New Zealand Sri Lankan Associate Director Senior Strategy Consultant CBRE EMBA Class of 2019 . â€Å"It was now or never. I knew that I’d have likely stayed in my neighborhood for years to come if I didn’t take this opportunity. I’d not lived or studied outside of the U.S. before. So I left my job as a global strategist at an advertising agency and moved halfway around the world. I’ve come back a more culturally aware, well-versed person. I’ve realized that everything is a learning experience and an opportunity for growth. Ill definitely carry this mindset with me into the future. Technology and social media allow us to be different people in several places at once. Im excited to see how I can establish myself in whatever city Ill be lucky enough to call home and still maintain deep connections with people all over the world. I’m inspired by my classmates every day. Hearing some of their life stories and how getting this degree fits into their greater mission has been very humbling. My biggest challenge has been finding the ‘right’ path for me. There have been rooms Ive felt like I shouldnt be in, but now Im proud to feel as though I truly belong, wherever I am.† . Dwayne Logan, Jnr. American MBA Class of 2019 . â€Å"It was now or never. I knew that I’d have likely stayed in my neighborhood for years to come if I didn’t take this opportunity. I’d not lived or studied outside of the U.S. before. So I left my job as a global strategist at an advertising agency and moved halfway around the world. I’ve come back a more culturally aware, well-versed person. I’ve realized that everything is a learning experience and an opportunity for growth. Ill definitely carry this mindset with me into the future. Technology and social media allow us to be different people in several places at once. Im excited to see how I can establish myself in whatever city Ill be lucky enough to call home and still maintain deep connections with people all over the world. I’m inspired by my classmates every day. Hearing some of their life stories and how getting this degree fits into their greater mission has been very humbling. My biggest challenge has been finding the ‘right’ path for me. There have been rooms Ive felt like I shouldnt be in, but now Im proud to feel as though I truly belong, wherever I am.† . Dwayne Logan, Jnr. American MBA Class of 2019 . Happy New Year, Hultians! . Happy New Year, Hultians! .