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.