Im awake again at an odd hour, banging out yet another article for my fellow sleep explorers.

It occurred to me that my recent sojourn to Europe, the resulting jet lag, and summer cold that I have experienced, are all joining to give me some insights about our typical and atypical sleep and waking cycles, and their significance.

But let me back up. Because Im on the West Coast, Italy is nine hours ahead. So, when I arrived there at 8:30 in the morning, it was 11:30 at night, to my body.

I forced myself to stay awake for another four hours, walking around, drinking espresso, and then I took a nap, waking up a few hours after that, for dinner. And, more or less I stayed on Italian time for the duration of my 7-day adventure.

But during the week and a half that Ive been back, my body and its cravings have been out of whack. Im sleeping at odd hours, getting hungry too soon and too late, and Ive also caught a cold, sapping my strength.

But these maladies are making me see that really, we can operate on a 24-hour clock, providing we allow ourselves to do it. Our days do not have to be broken down into three, 8-hour intervals, to which many of us are acculturated and conditioned.

Thomas Edison knew this, reportedly taking numerous cat naps during each 24 hour cycle, instead of blocking out a longer span for repose. His accomplishments are legendary, and from the photos Ive seen of him, he lived to a ripe old age, or if he died young, he looked like he lived to a ripe old age!

The New York Times just featured an article about a fellow, 94 years young, who does drivers training for other geriatrics.

The secret to his longevity: lots of short naps.

These gents are what I term: time-shifters.

Theyve taken control of the clock, and theyre using it in creative ways, ways that suit their purposes.

Obviously, they dont take long trips or catch colds for this purpose, but somehow they have arrived at the insight that time is what we make of it, and their willingness to defy convention in when and how they use it, may actually be the mark of genius!