Surprisingly, people used to sleep differently than we do today. Here’s a link to an article recently published at the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783. The short of it goes that before the advent of artificial lighting, people would go to sleep a couple of hours after the sun went down. They would then wake up in the middle of the night, staying awake for a couple to three hours. They would then fall back asleep for another few hours or so. This is known as bi-modal or segmented sleep. Scientific research has shown that this mode of sleep is natural to all mammals, and that includes us humans.

I have begun to sleep in this manner, and have noticed a considerable change (for the better) in my overall well-being. The catch is that you have to go to sleep early and avoid artificial lighting after the sun goes down, because it particularly interferes with the kicking-in of your natural circadian sleep rhythm. I use oil lamps at night to read by, and have found that the period “in between sleep” is especially good for prayer and study.

I won’t go on, but I encourage you to do a bit of research on the subject. I think it’s a potential game-changer for anyone.