As I bounce out of bed in the mornings .. and I really do bounce.. as John brings me my first cup of coffee on his way out the door between 4.30 and 5 am. PLUS I am one of those annoying Morning People -I sometimes wonder how much better it would be if we did not need so much sleep at all.
We would have the same amount of work but so much more time to do it in. No yawning by 7pm desperate to just Lie Down. Please anything, just let me lie down! If I could work merrily until midnight and still bounce up at 5am just imagine how much more I could get done! What if we did not need to sleep at all. If there was no culture of sleep. If the whole world never slept. No-one even knew what sleep was. 
What if we were to rest standing up like cows or horses or move about in the darkness like rabbits. Chatting in the inky blackness without fear. And seeing in the dark. I think seeing in the dark would be useful if we did not need to sleep. Or maybe they would have invented some see in the dark glasses that were a bit trendier than the night vision giggle goggles they have now. Those will never catch on as a fashion item I can tell you that for nothing.
There would be a whole other way of living. Midnight snacks would be a meal. Living in the dark would be normal. No-one would be scared of the dark. We could save all the house work for the dark hours. Lighting would not be needed.Our schedules would be completely different. We would shower whenever we were dirty. Play basket ball for fun at 2am in the morning. Everything would be black and busy but no-one would bump into each other. There would be no bedrooms. Imagine that – no bedrooms with curtains to pull and doors to shut so we can sleep. They would be called nap rooms because it seems to me that laying down would still seem attractive. There would probably be less babies. And we may not live as long. And we might be all insane but then insane would be normal. But there would be less crime, or maybe more as the case may be. 
Do you wonder about those things?
Have you ever though that it would be useful to have extendable legs? Or little suction cups on your arms so you could carry more stuff? Not velcro though velcro is so Tuesday.
This is what I was wondering as I was farming yesterday.
I hope you all have a lovely day. Just not in the dark.
I was feeling a little bit lonely last night so I went and read the Join Us comments page. (Above) I love that page. If you have not written a little in the Join Us Page feel free to have a look and maybe leave a message about where you are. It is a good page. Not dark.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
46 responses to “What if we did not need to sleep”
Wow…I really identify with your post today. As a nurse, I worked 12 hour night shifts for 21 years….I retired 6 years ago after 42 years of nursing. Now, in my lovely retirement I am still that “night person”……I stay up most nights until dawn, I cook, do laundry, clean, etc….my house is the only one brightly “alive” all night on our block…..then I sleep for about 5 hours and am up again by noon……..so I can tell you the “night life” is lovely but I honestly doubt I get any more accomplished than those “normal” people who live during the daytime…LOL. 🙂
gosh nancy, what a revelation! c
I’ve always thought it would be so great if we didn’t have to sleep. I love the early morning hours—though I don’t see them as much as I’d like, because I can’t make myself go to bed at night!
I don’t sleep much and not well at all after the first 3 or 4 hours but I really do love crawling between the sheets and sinking in, especially if they’ve been line dried that day. I would much prefer not having to eat. We could grow flowers instead of food and think of all the time we wouldn’t need to shop, prepare, eat and clean up and we’d never have to wonder what to make for dinner again! I would really miss my guilty pleasure though – Snickers bars.
Oh no . . . . my bedroom has always been my favourite room and I seem to do everything in my bed in addition to the obvious two 😉 !! Love sleeping, absolutely love dreaming [what an unexpected wonderland one cannot foresee every night 🙂 !] . . . . and have always been a night person and a quiet grump in the morning hours . . . . jump out of bed – no way Jose!!!!!!!!!
I liked the giggly goggles, too. We could get so much more done if we didn’t need sleep. I would miss it, though.