Is there really only 24 hours in a day?

Have you ever thought about your own 24 hours?
By reflecting on it, you may discover something new.
Let’s think together about the concept of 24 hours.

“A day has 24 hours!” Are you surprised?
Most people are.
It is so obvious that you may never have thought about it.
Without question, a day has 24 hours.
When you go to bed at night, you might think the day was “fun” or “busy,” but you probably don’t think about the 24 hours of the day itself.
However, think about it. Even though a day has 24 hours, you don’t actually use all 24 hours from morning to night, do you?
That’s right—you’ve noticed it!
The 24 hours include your sleeping time at night.

The phrase “24 hours in a day” actually carries a clear meaning.
Why not take a moment to clearly recognize your own “24 hours”?

Please take a look at the pie chart.
It uses Office Worker A as a model. Sleep is from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM (8 hours), working hours are from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (8 hours), and the remaining 8 hours are personal time, making up a 24-hour day.
Sleep time is set at a healthy 8 hours, and working hours are assumed to be a standard 8-hour shift without overtime.

Now let’s look at A’s typical day.
They wake up at 7:00 AM, go to work before 9:00 AM, work until 5:00 PM with a one-hour lunch break, then return home and go to bed at 11:00 PM.
The 8 working hours from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM include a one-hour lunch break, but they are still time spent under company control, meaning they are not freely usable.
Sleep takes place from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM, totaling 8 hours.
This leaves 8 hours that A can use freely.

The phrase “24 hours in a day” actually carries a clear meaning.
Why not take a moment to clearly recognize your own “24 hours”?

Please take a look at the pie chart.
It uses Office Worker A as a model. Sleep is from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM (8 hours), working hours are from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (8 hours), and the remaining 8 hours are personal time, making up a 24-hour day.
Sleep time is set at a healthy 8 hours, and working hours are assumed to be a standard 8-hour shift without overtime.

Now let’s look at A’s typical day.
They wake up at 7:00 AM, go to work before 9:00 AM, work until 5:00 PM with a one-hour lunch break, then return home and go to bed at 11:00 PM.
The 8 working hours from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM include a one-hour lunch break, but they are still time spent under company control, meaning they are not freely usable.
Sleep takes place from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM, totaling 8 hours.
This leaves 8 hours that A can use freely.

Let’s take a closer look at the 8 hours of free time.
It is divided into 2 hours in the morning—from waking up until leaving for work—and 6 hours after work until bedtime.
The 2 hours in the morning include breakfast and commuting time, and similarly, after work there is commuting time to return home.
If one hour is needed for commuting, the originally 8 hours of free time is reduced to 6 hours.
In that case, there is only 1 hour left before leaving the house in the morning.
You quickly get ready, eat breakfast, and that is already the end of your morning.
Now, what about the evening?
If you leave work at 5:00 PM and spend one hour commuting, you arrive home at 6:00 PM.
There are 5 hours left until bedtime at 11:00 PM.
If you spend 1 hour on dinner and 30 minutes in the bath, you are left with 3.5 hours for time with family or using the internet.

In this example, A is assumed to leave work on time without overtime, but this may not be realistic.
Even if work ends at the scheduled time, you may not be able to leave immediately, and while it may not happen every day, overtime is rarely zero.
In that case, the time after 5:00 PM in the chart is pushed later.
Since it is practically impossible to delay waking up at 7:00 AM, sleep time would be reduced, and free time at night would also decrease.
The busier a person is, the more working hours increase and the less time remains for private life and sleep.

Why not try creating a pie chart of your own 24 hours?
It will help you clearly understand how your time is distributed over a 24-hour day.
You will likely come to agree that “there are only 24 hours in a day,” and certainly not think “there are as many as 24 hours in a day.”