Here’s what they taught us by their reactions:- When left to our own devices, we will establish a fairly
consistent pattern. - That pattern varies with the individual. One schedule does
not fit all. What’s “natural” varies from person to person.
There is no one “right” way to pattern the day. - We like to graze. Rather than taking our nourishment in
two or three major infusions, called “meals,” we tend to
eat smaller amounts several times a “day.” - Sleep, too, comes in shorter segments. Rather than one
large block of sleeping and one larger block of waking
in every twenty-four-hour cycle, people sleep for shorter
periods, more often. - The cycle isn’t twenty-four hours long. Folks have their
own built-in “day,” and most of these natural cycles are a
bit longer than twenty-four hours. - During each cycle, we have regular ups and downs. As any-
one who has semi-slumbered through a meeting or movie
well knows, not all states of wakefulness are created equal.
Sometimes we’re a lot more awake than at other times.
Attentiveness tends to undulate between peaks and troughs,
and folks seem to hit two peaks and two troughs during each
“daily” cycle.
So, What Can You Do about It?
Such findings seem to indicate that we’re all living “wrong,” in
defiance of our own natural rhythms. Not much from this “natu-
ral” cycle seems applicable to the world of work and family and to
the pattern set by clocks and calendars.
Let’s take a second look. Perhaps we can make some adjustments,
even while having to adhere to the basic outlines of the twenty-four-
W H O S E D R U M D O Y O U M A R C H T O?