What’s your idea of a good night’s sleep? Is it seven, eight, nine, or even 10, or more, hours?

Well, it could be much less.

According to some authorities sleep is much overdone in modern times. Our ancestors made do on much less slumber at night. They were partly nocturnal and made up by napping for a few hours during the day.

The problem is that when we sleep, parts of our consciousness leave the physical envelope of the body. If that period is too long, it causes muscle inflexibility and, in some cases, lower mental performance.

It’s a well-known fact that an hour’s nap in the afternoon boosts our energy and overall thinking skills. NASA, which has studied the performances of astronauts in space, believes that a nap during the day is of immense benefit to everyone.

The optimum pattern of sleep would be four or five hours at night, plus a two-hour nap during the afternoon.

If pressures of work make that impossible, any system of splitting sleep up to reduce one big slab of unconsciousness will be beneficial.

For example, two periods of three hours is preferable to one of eight hours.

As people differ in their requirements, it’s a good idea to experiment with your personal needs, but a split sleep pattern may well deliver enormous benefits to your life.