Sleep

I have written about my eye condition (Nystagmus) on this blog before and the impact they have on my life.  In particular I have mentioned my struggles with insomnia and sleep patterns in general.  I've been thrown out of sync the last week or so to the extent that I find myself awake and 3 a.m. wondering about the most random things.  The problem with my insomnia isn't the fact I can't sleep however, it's the prolonged tiredness that inevitably ensues since I can't get enough sleep.  That can be battled to an extent with energy drinks etc but you can't use them indefinitely and they only make things worse in the end so they aren't a practical solution.

I started to think about what it is I actually do with my time when I can't sleep.  I listen to music, I watch old TV shows, I play games, I write, or do puzzles like crosswords and sudoku to try and slip away.  I don't have the energy in those moments to do much that's in any way productive.  This is when I stopped to wonder, if you could abolish the need for sleep, without any negative consequence, what would you do with the extra time? 

I have been asking this question of others and the answers are for the most part inspiring and optimistic, but in other cases they are somewhat depressing.  The most depressing answer I have had people give is that they would spend longer in work.  That to me is conflicting because the thing most people complain about in relation to their jobs is their work-life balance, and the fact that their lives are often put in second place with work first.  I can't imagine why you would want to spend even more time in work if you suddenly found yourself with 8 to 10 extra hours to do whatever you wanted each day.

Some of the more inspiring ideas are those which seek to further themselves through studying or through increased activities.  Learning new skills, languages, getting physically fit, even just having the time to spend cooking food you actually want to eat, and spending time with family and friends are among the replies that make me smile. 

On the other hand I have to think about expectations.  While we may think about what we would do with that extra time, I have to stop and think about what others would expect of us if we had that extra time.  "There aren't enough hours in the day" is a phrase that is repeated many times but what if there were more hours suddenly for everyone, would the extra time we gain actually be our own, or would society change to compensate for that?  Would we be expected to work longer days in work because we don't need sleep and rest?  With many people working 12 hour shifts sometimes more as it is in the current environment, what would they do under another?  Would 24 hour shifts become a reality?  Could you realistically be expected to work an entire day?  I am not saying you'd work 24/7/365, but the maximum duration of a single shift instead, would it rise to 24 hours rather than 12?

This question is very reminiscent of "And then what?" posed in many works of fiction.  In the movie 'Death Becomes Her' starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis, the former two take a potion that lets them live forever, young and beautiful, but not without impunity; they then try and convince the latter to take the same potion but he poses the same question "And then what?" - if he lived forever he'd never grow old, he'd have to watch everyone else grow old and die.  The reality of the question hits and he refuses to take the potion.  I find myself wondering whether sleep isn't just something we have to do to stay alive, but whether it's something we need to stay sane.