Solar-based sleep patterns compared to modern norms

Disclaimer: These are my personal views and do not represent any organization or professional advice.

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 19:16:56 +0300

The Two Sleeps

Analyzing carefully the living habits of past Mediterranean agrarian societies one eventually comes to the realization that the continuous, unbroken and uninterrupted eight hour sleep schedule didn't exist and is in fact, a totally modern invention and a consequence of the rigid 9-5 work schedule.

Without artificial lighting the movements of the Sun dictated the beginning and end of the day. Life was lived in accordance and balance with Nature and sleep was no exception. An unbroken eight hours of sleep did not always fit with the cycles of the sky above and sleep was therefore rhythmically polyphasic.

In the Summertime this manifested as the siesta. The midday sun making work or activities outdoors impossible, people stopped work, spent time with their families, ate their main meal of the day and then napped. Refreshed and energized, work resumed in the cool hours of the afternoon and the day went on late into the night. Come time for the second sleep, eight hours weren't needed and a late night paired naturally and effortlessly with an early rise the following morning.

In the Wintertime this manifested as a sort of backwards and opposite siesta, a short wakeful period in the middle of the night between two sleeps. This makes perfect sense when you realize the duality and opposition of Summer's long days and short nights with Winter's short days and long nights. People went to sleep with the sun, woke in the middle of the night to stoke the fire and do chores for the following day before again going back to sleep and waking near or at sunrise.

In Greece remnants of these old ways of rest can still be found in the Summer siesta and "quiet hours" where the workday is split in two by a few hours of rest. Practiced religiously and an unshakeable part of its culture, it is the norm for businesses to open at 9AM, close at 2PM, reopen again at 5PM and close again around 10PM. This second work period is what the Greeks call the "afternoon".

Artificial lighting, precise timekeeping and the 9-5 work schedule that results make this kind of living impossible as people are forced to live like robots within a rigid and nonsensical system totally out of tune with the climactic, astrological and seasonal cycles of which we are all designed to live by.

The siesta is something I sincerely hope this country never optimizes away and it is my belief that so long as it remains ingrained in the culture and practiced by many people this superior way of dividing the day will prevail.

Anyway, I'm off to take a nap.

—Dylan Araps