Sleepscapes: rhythms, routines, and the dynamics of everyday and everynight life.

Abstract

Sociologists are increasingly interested in exploring the role of time in relation to illness, disability, and care. However, the question of how individuals experience and navigate the temporal dimensions of sleep in their everyday and everynight lives requires further empirical research. The present study addresses this question using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 66 employed midlife Israelis from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds. The findings indicate that sleep experiences are shaped by a complex interplay of biological, social, and seasonal rhythms. Sleep patterns recur nightly, weekly, seasonally, and following major life events and transitions, combining to create what I call sleepscapes - the evolving rhythmic patterns and disruptions that characterise the lived dynamics of sleep throughout a person's lifecourse. The study underscores the concept of polyrhythmia - multiple rhythms - in everyday and everynight life and shows how various rhythms can either harmonise or clash, often co-producing each other. The study explores individuals' efforts to negotiate these rhythms, illustrating how all these processes profoundly impact human experiences, social relationships, and health.