It's complicated: While modern technology feels like it steals time, historical data suggests many people, especially pre-Industrial Revolution, had more days off (holidays, church days) but worked harder during work hours; later, longer weekends emerged, but digital life blurs boundaries, making us feel less "free" despite potentially more leisure hours than medieval times, with women historically having less leisure than men due to domestic duties.
As one source notes, “a typical working day in the medieval period stretched from dawn to dusk, sixteen hours in summer and eight in winter.” Other historians suggest an average of between 8.6 and 9 hours of work per day, about comparable to the modern workday.
There were labour-free Sundays, and when the ploughing and harvesting seasons were over, the peasant got time to rest, too. In fact, economist Juliet Shor found that during periods of particularly high wages, such as 14th-century England, peasants might put in no more than 150 days a year.
In the old days, before modern technology and entertainment options were available, people spent their free time in different ways compared to today. Here are some common activities they engaged in: Socializing: People would gather with family, friends, and neighbors to talk, share stories, and enjoy company.
Besides listening to the radio, people would also play cards or some simple games, similar to board games. They would often not live alone so they were always things to chat about with the others in the house. They would also sing and recite poems. They also read quite a lot and made a bunch of jokes.
Studies have shown that leisure time—free time not related to work or chores—is important for our health and happiness. The average American has about 5 hours of leisure time a day and the optimal amount of leisure time is about 2.5 hours. Less than that and people feel stressed, more than that and people feel idle.
Recreational activities often included team sporting events, board games, gambling (though frowned upon for the ladies!), card games, and much more. Children would partake in a variety of fun activities that kids today still play, including tag, hopscotch, and leapfrog.
They could use this time for prayer, chores, reading by candlelight, and even visiting friends or neighbors. Before electric lights were widely available, people in the 1800s used candles or oil lamps to light their homes in the evening.
Our methods for measuring time have been around for a long, long time! 4,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians introduced the duodecimal system, based on the number 12. This is why we still have 12 months in a year, 24 hours in a day, and 60 minutes in an hour.
People spent more time outdoors Screens bring entertainment indoors. Before the internet, people spent much more time outdoors, walking or gardening. Children played games like tag, hide-and-seek, and hopscotch. Bicycling, roller skating, and playing sports in the neighbourhood were daily activities.
Purity, chastity, chaste, maiden, flower, and virgin were all terms that originated in the 1200s that meant a woman who has not been touched sexually. Chaste was specifically meant for unlawful sexual intercourse until the 15th century where it came to mean completely sexually pure.
8-Hour Work Day. On August 20, 1866, the newly organized National Labor Union called on Congress to mandate an eight-hour workday. A coalition of skilled and unskilled workers, farmers, and reformers, the National Labor Union was created to pressure Congress to enact labor reforms.
After use, the sponge on the handle was rinsed in salt water or vinegar, ready for the next person to use. In ancient times, rounded pieces of pottery, known as pessoi (singular: pessos), were also used to wipe the buttocks. According to a Greek proverb that calls for frugality, three stones are enough to wipe.
Records from Ancient Egyptian and Biblical eras through Greco-Roman to Medieval times indicate that obesity was present throughout peoples of previous centuries in history, although peoples of previous centuries would probably have experienced overweight and obesity as exceptional rather than normal.
People would typically go to bed after dusk for their first sleep, wake around midnight, and then return for a second sleep before dawn.
The Medieval peasant worked approximately 1,980 hours per year while the average American works approximately 1,777 hours a year. While they worked more hours they only worked 180 days and took 185 vacation days. The average American works 233 days and only takes 132 vacation days.
Modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago, but record-keeping only began about 6,000 years ago. This means that an estimated 97% of human history has been lost, leaving vast portions of our past undocumented and unknown.
THE DIVISION of the hour into 60 minutes and of the minute into 60 seconds comes from the Babylonians who used a sexagesimal (counting in 60s) system for mathematics and astronomy. They derived their number system from the Sumerians who were using it as early as 3500 BC.
The elephant clock was a model of water clock invented by the medieval Islamic engineer Ismail al-Jazari (1136–1206). Its design was detailed in his book, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.
The koala is the animal that sleeps approximately 90% of the day (20-22 hours), a necessity due to its low-energy eucalyptus diet requiring intensive digestion, making it the ultimate champion of sleep in the animal kingdom, followed closely by sloths and bats.
Hullo, hallo, and other spellings
Hullo is found in publications as early as 1803. The word hullo is still in use, with the meaning hello. Hello is alternatively thought to come from the word hallo (1840) via hollo (also holla, holloa, halloo, halloa).
The 3-2-1 bedtime method is a simple sleep hygiene strategy: stop eating 3 hours before bed, stop working 2 hours before bed, and stop using screens (phones, tablets, TVs) 1 hour before sleep, helping your body transition to rest by reducing stimulants and digestive load for better sleep quality. A more detailed version adds 10 hours (no caffeine) and 0 (no snoozing) for a 10-3-2-1-0 rule.
Typically, most mothers had up to eight children, in hopes that some would survive and be able to work for the family. High infant mortality rates was a major issue during this time.
Music hall songs became very popular and people enjoyed singing along to the well- known tunes. Richer people also went to the theatre to watch ballet, opera or classical concerts. These theatres were much grander than those used for music hall. Families also enjoyed going to pantomimes.
Radio programs, music, dancing and dance marathons, and cinema were popular forms of entertainment during the Great Depression. Many people suffering from the effects of the economic downturn looked for inexpensive ways to pass the time and distract themselves from the challenging circumstances.