"Wake up, wake up!"

In the last century,

people slept an average of nine hours per night.

Today, more than half the world's population

gets by on less than

seven hours of sleep per night.

But in an age of non-stop stimuli,

what do you expect?

To sleep is to miss out on...

something...

So, why sleep at all?

What if we didn't need sleep?

Sleep is simply one of those things

you just can't live without.

At least, not yet...

Your heart, your lungs, your brain

and your metabolism

all need a good night's rest to work their best.

Without enough sleep,

you increase your risk of high blood pressure,

depression, diabetes, obesity

and cardiovascular disease,

not to mention any infections that might prey

on your weakened immune system.

"Put that coffee down!"

But then, in 1965,

a 16-year-old stayed awake

for 11 days straight

without sustaining any permanent side-effects.

And in 2007, researchers tested a new drug

on primates that reduced

the negative effects of sleep deprivation,

and boosted their cognitive performance.

So the big question is,

"I'm on no sleep. No sleep!"

The average person spends

about a third of their life asleep.

In a world where we'd no longer need sleep,

you'd have eight extra hours to play with!

Would you see more family and friends?

Would you learn a new skill,

pick up a new hobby,

or unleash your creative potential?

Of course, not everyone would

see this as "free" time.

The longer you're awake,

the more money you'll spend and,

the more money

you'd undoubtedly have to earn.

Your grocery bill, for instance,

could easily double.

If the average person eats

three meals within 12 hours,

you'd probably have to eat twice as much

to have enough energy

to last you for 24 hours!

Along with your food consumption,

your fuel consumption would also go up,

and with it, your environmental impact.

It wouldn't just be from people

driving more often,

but also from people having

their lights on more often,

because everyone would be awake all the time.

The workaholics among us would

surely increase their time at the office

– along with anyone else

looking to make an extra buck!

Of course, with more people working overtime,

stress levels would increase, and,

not sleeping would certainly

make the problem worse.

So 24-hour therapists

would be in high demand,

along with 24-hour restaurants and

24-hour farmers.

Yeah, we would need so much more food.

And not just because everyone's eating more,

but because those of us who

aren't working longer hours

might still feel inclined to be more...

productive.

So population would increase,

and there would be more people to look after.

We'd need to train armies of first responders

in order to serve, protect, and save

a growing, restless public.

With more hours in the day,

we might be able to speed up our progress

and find cures to some of the world's

most challenging illnesses.

The curious minds of the world

would have more time to

innovate and explore,

delivering new technologies, and,

making fresh discoveries

ahead of their time!

Who knows?

We might even make it to Mars

sooner than expected!

... Or would we just end up wasting more time?

There are plenty of

smart ways to be productive, but,

cutting back on sleep

is definitely not one of them!

Studies show that humans

are intellectually productive

for roughly six hours a day,

and that's provided we allow ourselves

some downtime to recharge.

So it's not guaranteed that a sleepless society

would get more done.

We might simply be faced with the problem

of having too much time on our hands!

And if you don't think that's possible,

just remember the last time

you had to kill a few hours of time.

Let's just say that

movies, TV, and video games

would become a lot more popular

...along with bars and –

definitely – coffee shops!

So whether you get your full 7 hours,

or just 40 winks,

your body needs to take breaks.

You can handle a late night once in a while, but,

if you go too long without adequate sleep,

you'll eventually break down.

So pick your poison:

coffee, Red Bull, or a new pill on the market,

you still can't replace sleep.

And why would you anyway?

Productivity is great, excitement is great, but

...isn't relaxing on a bed pretty great too?

Get a full night's sleep tonight,

and see how refreshed you feel tomorrow!

Do you think you'd sleep more

if you could control your own dreams?

Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF!