I don’t sleep much.

So, the other day, when a friend told me about a Web site he’d seen about some cockamamy world-changing concept to get more sleep time – something about creating a system with six-day week and a 28-hour day, instead of our current seven-day, 24-hour system – I was excited to find out more.

I logged on to the Internet in search of what was sure to be a life-changing read. What an understatement that turned out to be.

Once I’d found dbeat.com/28, I was immediately taken aback by its space-themed design, containing an animated picture of the Earth and the sun. The site was entitled, ‘The 28 Hour Day: A New Clock for a New Age,’ and I was amazed by its beauty. I read on.

‘Did you ever feel like there just weren’t enough hours in the day?’

I guess.

‘Have you ever stayed up late because you weren’t tired enough to go to bed?’

Sure, all the time.

‘Have you ever felt like you didn’t get enough sleep and it was, too soon, time to get up?’

I feel like you know me.

‘Have you ever wished for more free time to pursue different activities and goals?’

Constantly.

‘If you can relate to these feelings, you will be interested in the 28 Hour Day.’

I can, and I am. So I read a little bit further.

In a normal work day, the site describes, two hours are spent as a part of a morning routine/commute, eight hours are spent at work, six hours are spent free and eight are spent sleeping. In this new, more glorious world, an extra hour would be given to both free time and sleep, and an extra two hours would be given to a work day. While tedious and annoying, this allows for workers to continue working 40 hours a week, given that the weekend still consists of two days and the week would consist of just four, instead of five (If I’m losing you, I apologize). But now the weekend would be 54 hours long, instead of 48. And I know I’d sure love an extra six hours of par-tay time.

There are other benefits: less pollution because of fewer commute trips to and from work, reduced frequency of daily chores (now done just six times a week instead of seven), and the fact that week is skewed so that the weekend is full of the most possible day time during normal awake times.

Each perk continued to build on top of the perk that had originally caught my attention: more sleep time.

The other night, when I walked into work, I told my colleagues of this wonderful concept.

‘I fully back it,’ I told them. ‘You should, too.’

One or two saw the benefits I did, but for the most part, responses ranged from ‘You’re an idiot,’ to ‘That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.’

Then one person pointed out a flaw in the system. With the number of days changing in the week, it changes the number of days in a year, thus changing the number of days in a month. There would be no more holidays – they would lose their significance in this new calendar as the dates themselves would be impossible to carry over.

‘Yeah, but holidays are overrated,’ I responded.

‘But birthdays?’

‘Yeah, them too,’ I said. ‘We can all just have our birthday at the first of the year, and age like horses do.’

Suddenly, there was silence.

‘You don’t sleep much, do you?’ an unconvinced colleague asked as she turned her back on me and left the room.’

No. No, I don’t. And that’s the point. Let’s start the revolution. Who’s with me?

Published on November 2, 2004 at 12:00 pm