Could Segmented Sleep Cure Your Insomnia?

Many of us suffer from insomnia – an inability to get a good night’s sleep. Turning to drugs to help you sleep is one solution, but a poor one due to side effects and dependence. Clearly behavioral treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy – training yourself to eliminate the negative thoughts that keep you awake, and systematically relaxing — represents a better strategy. Another solution, though, may be trying segmented sleep – an ancient strategy that represents our ancestors’ sleep patterns.

The common belief is that 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is the holy grail. Both historical research and laboratory studies of sleep patterns, however, suggest that there may be a “natural” pattern that is quite different.

Historian Roger Ekirch studied writings from ancient times through the pre-industrial age and found that our ancestors slept nightly in two separate periods, separated by one to three hours of wakefulness. These periods were known as first sleep and second sleep. People spent the waking period between first and second sleep praying, having sex, or even visiting with neighbors. Scholars and poets found the night period a productive time to write.

Some laboratory sleep research has found evidence that a “natural” sleep pattern may be four hours of sleep, followed about three hours of wakefulness, and then four hours of “second sleep,” which may explain why many of us wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep.

Will Segmented Sleep Work for You?

Perhaps, and it may be worth a try. I once asked a highly-published research psychologist for her recipe for her extraordinary productivity. She mentioned her creation of "little days"—waking up to work intensely from 2:00-4:00 am before returning to a second sleep period. In other words, she had systematized the segmented sleep pattern.

At a time in my life when I suffered from insomnia, I gave segmented sleep a try. When I awoke in the middle of my targeted 8 hours, I got up and read or wrote for a couple of hours (some blog posts came from this!), and found it easy going back to a restful second sleep.

Some Caveats

Segmented sleep may not work for everyone. When I tried it, I was living alone, so I didn’t have to worry about waking others in the family with my “abnormal” nighttime ritual.

You should have the right mental approach. You need to be able to end your waking period and get back into a relaxed, “going-to-sleep” mode. Also, it can lengthen your night, so you need to schedule for a 10-12 hour night – not good if you are a night owl with an early morning starting time at work.

If you suffer from insomnia, or if you want to get off reliance on sleep aids (even melatonin can have long-term side effects), you might consider giving segmented sleep a try.