Hours

I look at the clock one more time. It's 1:30. Yet again, I am going to have to suffice with five hours of sleep. This is a story that has been repeated many times by students everywhere. Can this be prevented? Certainly. One of two things can occur -- you spend less time awake, or you are given more time to sleep. While the former is possible, eliminating any sense of procrastination is not going to work unless everyone is turned into a robot without a desire to play Starcraft or whatnot. Rather, it would be easier to allot more time in the day, which can be spent sleeping, or at least making sure you don't have to pull an all-nigher.

What do I mean by that? Well, right now we live in a 24/7 world over two dozen time zones. What happens at noon in the US takes place at 5 PM in London, 7 PM in Moscow, midnight in Singapore, and 9 AM in Los Angles. In this technology-driven globalized world, there is little distinction between night and day. So, why do we need to make our day based on the rotation of the Earth if we cannot achieve what we need to do within that time period?

Consider the following: a 28-hour day. Instead of the five hours of sleep I mentioned earlier, I would get nine instead. I would be more refreshed and awake. Instead of rushing to get my work done so I could be able to feel my bed, I could take my time for once. In addition, you would probably actually need less sleep per 168-hour period then under present circumstances The reason why I suggested the 28-hour day is that it synchs up with the present week rather well. One week currently consists of 7 24-hour days, which would change to 6 28-hour days. It wouldn't fit perfectly with the month or the year, but the former has rather arbitrary designations anyway (what's with February, anyway?) and the latter is not perfect either, with its leap years and whatnot.

Also, do you want to be able to see a sunrise or sunset? Watch it during your lunch break. Have a kid who thinks it's really neat to stay up late? Well, he does get to stay up late at night and still get to bed at his bedtime. Of course, if you're the type of person who tends to rely on the position of the sun to tell the time, you'll have to adjust, but then again, Daylight Savings Time also causes that problem.

Will this be an easy change to do? Of course not. If it were, someone would have probably come up with the idea already, and we'd probably be enjoying our time at 13:45 AM right now. Clocks would have to be changed and schedules would have to be altered, among other things, but in the long run, it would provide for a net benefit. And anyway, planners only last a year or so, clocks are very easy to come by, and plus, you can be the proud owner of a vintage 24-hour timepiece! Feel free to think about it. And remember, you would have an extra four hours to think if you get the 28-hour day.