The eight-hour workday that informs so much of society’s schedules, the one that dominates when we wake, when we eat, and when we see our family and friends, is arbitrary.

It made it easier for factory owners to hold people in factories and to keep payroll consistent. It never had the employee’s well-being in mind. We used to have ten-hour workdays.

Are you still working to that schedule? Do you need to? What do you stand to gain by changing it up?