Franklin and Edison, World's Greatest Shiftworkers?

When we conjure a model related to the ability of one to work in at atmosphere of little or no sleep, the discussion may settle upon two legendary Americans who’s contributions to society are so significant that we often attribute to them almost superhuman dimensions – Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison.

Both geniuses were gracious in explaining the reasons for their tremendous productivity. Namely, that they rarely slept for more than a few hours each night, and in fact, often went sleepless for days in order to complete a task or assignment. Edison was famous for marathon sessions in his lab, vigorously pursuing the solution to a reluctant puzzle. Franklin, the typical “morning” person was famous for his quote, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” (Or something like that)

Well, I’m not so sure I believe everything I read in history books. Most of what has been discussed in these articles for Suite 101 relates to the human body’s need to sleep for a period of time (seven or eight hours per day), in order to synchronize our circadian system to the 24-hour cycle of nature. And the challenge for shiftworkers is to find ways to fool our body clocks into thinking that the rhythm of the "day" is as natural as we can make it.

Shiftworkers know that they all can’t live their lives in a strictly-regulated environment because they’re working nights, sleeping days, and often must rotate work schedules. Their internal organs and hormones simply don’t know what time of day it is.

So what about the stories of Edison and Franklin? Were they really all that productive, living on almost no sleep?

Actually, Franklin’s reputation regarding limiting sleep is closely akin to his reputation for frugality – “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and all that. Sleep is something that is natural, but has the potential for being misused. (Too much of a good thing, in other words.) In Franklin’s day, industriousness and hard work were extremely important human virtues.

Edison adopted Franklin’s philosophy as well, and in both cases, it was important for them to model their behavior in a way that suggested that they didn’t sleep very much. To them, it meant that they were diligent and demanding in their lives, and never lazy in any way.

In Franklin’s autobiography, he explains his quest (tongue-in-cheek) for moral perfection. In his principles for order, Franklin offered appropriate activities for each hour of the day. In his thesis, Franklin allocated only four hours of sleep per night. This tenet is the most often quoted reference to the myth of Franklin’s lack of sleep.

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