We live in an era in which the knowing of what time it is, is as straightforward as looking down at our watch, or our smartphone, or at a clock on our counter or elsewhere. So then, at virtually any time, we know what time it is, and thereby are able to deal well with all the things that are time sensitive, such as showing up for work at a certain time, going to an event at a specific time, or meeting up with a friend; which are all things that we monitor through the knowing of what time of day it is, of which, those people or things that we are interacting with, all keep track of time the same way that we do. In other words, time is structured in an orthodox way that all are privy to.
Nowadays, we take the knowing of what time it is, as a given, of which, few people, ever contemplate upon how often and how dependent we are on knowing that time, of which, the prime example of this, is when we simply meet up with people at a certain time, in which, by the knowledge of that time, down to the minute, makes the accomplishment of that mission, seamless. So then, to turn back the clock, so to speak, before there were watches, and before there were clocks, we were left in an era in which the time keeping was primarily based upon the position of the sun in the sky.
We therefore find that the coordination between peoples, without clocks or, quite obviously, any other modern communication device, was left to the reading of the sky as well as of the sunlight or the lack thereof, in which, to a very large extent, such coordination came down to, each party, having a clear understanding of what they were referring to when they agreed to meet up, in which, this would thereby necessitate a very common comprehension of what something like dawn or twilight would mean to each party, and thereby, such became a good way to successfully meet up.
What modern society pretty much takes for granted is that it is in the knowledge of what time that it is, that thereby is the key that permits us to successfully get well accomplished what so needs to be accomplished, of which, the knowledge of that specific time and date, is the critical component to that success. Those that have previously had to deal with the lack of such specificity, had to make do with their own ways of marking time through things such as a sundial, the reading of the stars, the sky, or the sunlight.
We have come a long way from having to meet up with people, based upon the position of the sun, of which, despite that handicap, there were some advantages for those people, in the sense that times were slower back then, thereby signifying that back in the day, humankind was not nearly as beholden to the specific time, so marked down to a minute, as we are so, today.