How Were Our Ancestors So Productive Without Eight Hours Of Sleep?

May 08, 2018 by apost team

Complaining of being lethargic, irritated, moody, memory issues, constantly hungry, gaining weight, high blood pressure, or elevated blood sugar? Then, you’ve likely been asked if you’re getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can affect almost every system in the human body over time. With today’s on-the-go way of life, that magical eight hours of sleep per night is something most everyone is both constantly lacking and craving. So, how is it that our ancestor’s managed to sleep twice a day?

Surprisingly enough, our ancestors had much more complicated sleep schedules than we do, routinely got less sleep than we do, didn’t seem to crave as much sleep as we do, and yet they didn’t suffer the various effects of sleep deprivation.

How Did Our Ancestors Sleep?

Historical sleep patterns from the 18th century backward typically involved shift sleeping. It involved two shifts, or first and second sleeps. Now, before you get all excited thinking these lucky folks got to sleep twice, not just once, understand the first sleep was only four hours at most. The sleeper would then be awoken to spend a couple hours awake before returning to bed for his second sleep of a few more hours.

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Why Did Our Ancestors Sleep In Shifts?

Experts have many theories on why early modern Europeans and North Americans slept in shifts versus one large, uninterrupted chunk. Protection, safety was, of course, a concern. There was also nothing but human will and raw resources to accomplish chores and activities of daily living; without technology and artificial lighting, these tasks likely took much longer and required a different sleep schedule to take advantage of daylight hours. Virginia Tech historian Roger Ekirch’s theory involves the gap in sleep being used as a time of creativity, socializing, and mating.

What changed?

Again, there are multiple theories on the transition between split sleeping and today’s eight-hour rule of thumb. Roger Ekirch points out in the “Science of Us” that the emerging of technologies like artificial lighting allowed our ancestors to accomplish tasks previously unthinkable in the nighttime hours, such as work and socialization. “Night” hours shrunk from 12 or more hours to whatever the person deemed. And, thus began the shifting of bedtimes to later and later, eventually merging into the one extended period of sleep we know today. But, is that our body’s natural sleeping habit?

Psychologist Thomas Wehr’s 1992 sleep experiment kept over a dozen men in artificial darkness for over a month. During the experiment, the subjects all began to sleep in segments. Wehr suggests that segmented, shift sleeping is the natural human sleep pattern. Others disagree and point to the known psychological and physical ailments associated with broken sleep cycles.

Some Still Shift Sleep Today

Maintenance insomnia basically involves shift sleeping. The person falls asleep only to wake up a few hours later to toss and turn until eventually going back to sleep. Theories suggest that this could be the bodies craving for our ancestor’s sleep schedule. Certain demanding professions like medical interns and residencies and firemen often demand just such a shift sleeping schedule. Science suggests this isn’t necessarily healthy, however.

Shift Sleeping Downside

First of all, it takes weeks of prolonged darkness for the body to change its sleeping rhythms and not feel the effects of sleep deprivation. In today’s world of artificial light, whether that be an alarm clock’s glow, street lights, or 24/7 human traffic, it’s almost impossible to recreate the “night” environment that spawned our ancestor’s shift sleeping.

Waking yourself up or naturally waking up at night to insomnia causes most people anxiety, or at least a fear that they’ll be tired and unprepared for the day ahead of them. It will take months to both mentally and physically adjust to a new sleep cycle.

That said, the majority of sleep experts do not recommend shift sleeping because it interrupts a crucial element - REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep, which takes at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted sleep to begin.

How To Take A Piece Of Shift Sleeping Without The Downside

Set an earlier bedtime. Shift sleeping involved early bedtimes that likely started around dusk, making bedtime the start of a 12 or so hour event versus the start of eight we are accustomed to today.

What’s the absolute minimum amount of sleep the National Sleep Foundation recommends per night?

14 hours for infants
12 hours for ages 1-3
10 hours for ages 3-12
8 hours for ages 12-18
7 hours for ages 18-65

And, up until age 65, the top end of those recommendations is nine hours for ages 12 and up.

If you simply can’t squeeze in at least the bare minimum recommended hours of sleep, then at least take a lights-out, “night” approach similar to our ancestor’s environment:

Cut off electric lights.
Create a relaxing bedroom space devoid of unnatural noises, colors, and odors.
Add some black-out curtains to sleep areas with heavy outdoor lighting.
Remember that blue light from electronics is not your sleep friend; set them aside a couple hours before bedtime.
Lay down and relax an hour or so in advance of your bedtime goal.
Reserve your bed to be associated with sleeping, meaning that you avoid exercising, playing board games, watching television and such in your bed so that your brain is trained that the bed means it’s time to sleep.
Don’t track your sleep or get anxious if you’re awake when you want to be asleep. Anxiety releases hormones designed to give you energy to fight or flight, not sleep.

What’s your sleep schedule? Are you interested in trying shift sleeping or getting more uninterrupted hours of sleep per night? Our readers would love to hear your story in our comment section.