Show me one employed person with a life that manages to get 8 hours sleep on average. Most commuters would have to go to bed at 2100 to get a breakfast and enough time to get to work. I only get 8 hours when I know I am sleep deprived and go to bed at 2100. However, this is not "normal", and I bet it isn't normal for most. So why do we call it normal, then?
Most days I'm in bed (and asleep withing 5 minutes) at 22:00 and awake at 05:30. I'm over 60, 7.5 hours sleep is just right for me. I have a one-hour commute each way and usually leave home at 06:45 and arrive back around 18:00.
It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, my eyes pop open at 05:30 and I have to get up (a) to micturate (did I mention I'm over 60?) and (2) feed the cats. The latter have trained me using medieval methods. When I was younger I would sleep as late as I could: my record was sleeping in until 16:00, and boys oh boys did that cause me to feel wretched.
In the EU it's quite normal for the average person to get the 8 hours of sleep. Of course, it depends on the work sector you are in, but for most jobs you don't have to wake up at 6 AM. Also, most people live close to their work, within 30 minutes of biking/driving/public transport.
One way? That's anything but normal. Even if it's two-way it's nowhere near the norm.
The EU records this for pretty much all member states, and Ireland shows an average of 28 minutes.[0]
> In 2019, more than half (61.3%) of employed people in the EU traveled less than 30 minutes from home to work.
You are correct that Ireland is part of the group of countries which has a larger subset of people with long commutes, but hovering around 10% is not what I'd call "normal".
> The largest shares of the longest commuting times were observed in Latvia (13.5%), Ireland (11.2%), Belgium (10.7%) and Hungary (10.6%), where more than 10% of employed people had to travel from home to work for 60 minutes or more.
Yes in the "EU" (500 millions people) everyone lives in a quaint old city centre where people cycle to the greengrocer and everyone has stellar labour rights and sleeps soundly at night.
No, exactly that's the point. It's a lot of smaller countries and cities, and usually people live/relocate where they work.
People travelling daily longest for work are usually living in the (poorer) rural side, where yes, they have to get up early and take the (limited) public transport available, sometimes having only 2 buses per day.
I go to sleep at 9:30 and wake up at 5:30 every day. Sometimes I go crazy and stay up till 10, but that's rare. My bus leaves at 7 AM (40 minute commute), so that's plenty of time for coffee & breakfast & a shower before I have to head out the door. I get home from work at about 4:30 PM, plenty of time to cook dinner or do home stuff or go see friends or whatever before going to bed at 9.
My bus also leaves at 7 AM, with 40 minute commute, but unfortunately I have a very bad case of internet / youtube addiction, plus I'm basically a night person.
So I go to sleep around 12:30 AM each night (sometimes even after 1 AM), and I wake up at 5:50 AM.
That's not enough sleep at all.
I do sleep till very late during the weekend.
I've been doing this for 20 years now, and some day it's probably going to catch up on me.
My breakfast is a cup of coffee and toast usually but since I live a 25 min bike ride from my work (in New England USA) I can usually leave around 800, which means I can sleep at 2300 for 8 hours easily.
Now, does my body do that?... no, usually it wakes me up after 6-7, but whatever.
I ran a consulting business for a long time. Sleeping that much is no problem if you prioritize it. Kids, wife, etc. You just have to organize your life around your priorities. It does mean little time for extraneous entertainment during the week, but that’s ok.
I work a full time tech job, I am out with friends or on a “date night” with my partner three or four times a week every week, and I have a few hobbies like music production and combat robotics.
I get at least 8 hours every night. My “must be home and in bed” time on a weeknight is by 12:30AM, and I sleep in until 8:45AM. I am normally woken by my alarm.
Weekends I simply set an alarm for 9 hours after I get in bed, which sometimes means sleeping until 2PM.
I don’t eat breakfast, and I basically never commute in the morning, but if I do, my office is about 15 minutes away.
"Normal" in the context of the body's actual sleep needs, not "normal" in the sense that everyone has the time or life management skills to achieve those needs.
("Normal" also depends on age: babies sleep a lot more than 8 hours a day, teenagers also typically need more sleep than they actually get.)
Most adults (with responsibilities) don't sleep for 8 hours daily. They sleep far less.
And sleeping less than that is enough to live a very healthy life.
If you feel your body/mind didn't rest well because you didn't get your 8 hour sleep, it's likely because you've been exposed to, and came to believe all these articles saying you do need 8 hrs min sleep.
It's simply not the case. You can function very well on 6.5/7 hrs of sleep. I'm nearing 40 and I do.
Show me one employed person with a life that manages to get 8 hours sleep on average. Most commuters would have to go to bed at 2100 to get a breakfast and enough time to get to work. I only get 8 hours when I know I am sleep deprived and go to bed at 2100. However, this is not "normal", and I bet it isn't normal for most. So why do we call it normal, then?