Are you tired and feeling crabby during your work or at home…? A Power nap is your only solution. The best time for the power nap is at midday. The nodding of your head is the indication for you to take a sleeping nap. Delaying your nap and taking it after 4 to 6 pm will adversely affect your nighttime sleep. If a nap has been taken correctly then it can make you more active, productive, and alert.
Napping is not sleeping for a long or short time. It is just relaxing your mind and body for a short interval of time.
A good power nap after lunch can boost your productivity, lessen your stress, can save you from many diseases mainly heart disease. It improves the concentration power and keeps the brain activity at a higher stage. The NASA studies mention that the performance of an individual can be boosted by a nap of just 26 minutes.
There are a number of points to be kept in mind to take a good power nap such as:
- Length of the nap
- A good and supporting Place where the nap is being taken
- Removal of Distractions
- Setting the alarm
- Soothing music
- Food Intake
- Making napping a routine
- And others
Ideal Power Nap Length
- The best length of the nap is 20 minutes. You must at least take a 20 min nap. If you are feeling more stressed then you can increase it by 10 minutes i.e. a 30 minute nap will be a great energy booster.
- If you have a lot of work and don’t have time to take a nap of 20 – 30 minutes but you are feeling sleepy so a 5 to 10 minutes nap can also help you to start your work with full energy.
- A 50 – 90 minutes nap is a very long and lazy nap and can cause sleep inertia and can cause the dazed feeling which you will have after such a long nap.
Tips for a perfect power nap
- Place of nap is the very first decision you need to take before napping. You can select a dark room or a place where there is less or dim lightening. If you are working and there is no availability of space in your company or taking a nap can cause a firing situation for you then better do it in your car during your lunch break after having your lunch or during the tea or coffee break.
- Now the second decision you need to take is the time period for how long you want to make your nap. It could be a nano, mini, power or long / lazy nap. 5 to 10 minutes of nap is the nano nap, 10 to 15 minutes is mini nap, the power nap is of 20 minutes and the nap whose time ranges from 30 to 90 is the long/lazy nap. A good choice can benefit in boosting your brain.
- After selecting the time period of your nap just set alarm so that you wouldn’t get into a deep sleep. The deep sleep can cause sleep inertia and make you feel irritated.
- If you are at work and pushing yourself to do the stressful work by pinching yourself then you must lay down your head for a small nap. While taking naps at work don’t start thinking about the stress or the work. This will totally waste your time and you will not get any rest at all.
- Food intakes or a large amount of caffeine consumption greatly effects your napping. Also carbohydrates, sugar etc make it harder to get sleep so you must avoid intake of food rich in the above categories. Try to consume food containing protein or calcium or better take a glass of warm milk.
- Some people take 30 minutes or more of time to get asleep and think that they can never get a good nap but it’s not mandatory to fall asleep to get a power nap. If you are unable to get asleep during the napping period then just close your eyes and meditate. This will refresh your mind and body. You will feel energetic again after this power nap. Dark room or an eye mask can help you get asleep faster.
- All the distractions like phone, door bells etc must be removed. Mute your phone and hang a do not disturb tag on the door. This will help you in the removal of distractions.
- Light and soothing music can make your mind in a right state for a nap. If you feel music disturbing then you can drop this idea.
- The moms having newborns can take naps when their baby is asleep.
- Make napping a routine. Taking nap regularly will reduce the risks of many diseases like heart disease. Keep your napping time consistent. For e.g.: As the midday nap is very beneficial so try to make the napping routine between 1 -3 pm daily. This is the only best time for napping; delaying this time will cause you problems in the night sleep.
- Two British researchers discovered that a stimulant nap or caffeine nap i.e. taking caffeine or coffee just before your nap not a long before can more effectively boost your energy when you wake up from your scheduled nap.
The nap should not become a pre-sleep
If waking up after a power nap feels like a Monday morning, you can be sure that your afternoon nap was overshot. At the 30-minute mark, the body reaches the next phase of sleep. This is then no longer a nap, but can, according to Vorster, be described as pre-sleeping. The body falls into deep and REM sleep phases. The body slows down body functions such as breathing and pulse and initiates cell repair. That makes the restart so difficult.
Long naps are not all bad, however. This also has an advantage: after the body is fit again, you benefit from the long sleep for many hours. This is also because we reduce sleep pressure. After such a long nap you fell asleep. However, it should be ensured that this does not cause the entire sleep rhythm to get out of hand. For those who prefer the negative aspects of long sleep, there is still the golden mean.
How long is power nap – Not Just Five Minutes
If the afternoon nap is less than five minutes, there is no effect. The time is too short to slide into the non-REM-2 phase. The body does not get past the sleep phase, says Vorster.
Sleeping just a few more minutes is perfect, says the researcher. Here are twelve minutes the magic number. During this time, we are most of the time in non-REM-1 – the light sleep phase. This state is comparable to dozing or daydreaming.
If that puts too much pressure on you, you can relax. 15 minutes are also still in the frame. A few minutes then do not matter. The temptation to lie still is great, but here it helps to think of the advantages. After that, a good mood is guaranteed. The precise landing while napping is not easy. But it is a matter of getting used to and a routine can help to take advantage of the midday low in order to be more efficient afterward.
The overall resultant is to keep in mind all the above points and try to make napping your routine. This will completely refresh you and make you feel like you have started a new day.
The Benefits of Having a Power Nap
You may be a student, a professional or a mother who have several tasks on hand. The loads of responsibilities you have make you wish to have more than 24 hours in a day. There are days that you have sleep deficits due to the activities you have to accomplish.
During those days it is very important to have a power nap. It will give you more energy and will alleviate those sleep deficits you had. Aside from these, science tells us that having a power nap helps in boosting our physical and mental alertness making us more productive and creative in our tasks throughout the day. Furthermore, power nap helps in preventing heart diseases, maintaining a weight and reducing stress levels.
After knowing these scientific facts, it is important to know the definition of a power nap and how to do it correctly.
To begin with, you should know the different types of naps.
How long should a power nap be ?
A power nap is a sleep that last 10 to 30 minutes is the best nap length. This nap happens around 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. Naps that are longer than 30 minutes are not recommended because it may lead to developing a sleeping inertia. Sleeping inertia is a feeling that is unpleasant and groggy that lasts for a long time.
Naps that happen later than 4 pm may lead to having an improper sleeping pattern. Thus, it should be avoided.
According to Sara Mednick – the author of Take a Nap! Change your life, naps at different duration may have different benefits. 10 to 20 minute nap may lead to one’s alertness. Additionally, she says that she doesn’t like 30 minute nap because the recovery takes long.
Sara Mednick also suggested that 60 minute naps are also good for cognitive memory processing.
Another research has shown that having 6 minute nap can improve long-term memory. This ultra-short nap helps in boosting one’s ability to recall things faster.
Another nap is a 90 minute nap which is not ideal. Many of us are busy during day time and having a nap that takes 90 minutes is like having a complete sleep cycle.
Naps are divided into 4 types: Planned napping, emergency napping, habitual napping and appetitive napping.
- Planned napping is taking a nap even though you are not sleepy. It is the best thing to do when you know that you will have to stay late in a day due to some sudden projects or tasks.
- Emergency napping is taking a nap when you feel extremely sleepy preventing you from doing your tasks well.
- Habitual napping is taking a nap because it has become a habit. Usually this is a nap taken at the same time every day.
- Appetitive napping is another type of napping that is done due to pleasure.
Cognitive benefits of having naps
As discussed earlier, a nap helps in boosting one’s alertness, memory, productivity and performance. Having a working break to have a nap is a great idea. Naps can restore our energy, concentration on our tasks, ability to learn and our interest to work.
Many of us prefer drinking coffee during work time because they believe that it will make them alert, lively and active. But, a study in 2008 showed that taking a nap is better than drinking coffee when it comes to improving memory, learning and skills.
Are naps good for you ?
Napping helps in managing our blood pressure. Studies have shown that having 45 minute nap reduces high blood pressure thus reducing the risks of acquiring dangerous diseases such as cardiovascular diseases.
Napping can also help in reducing stress levels which is vital when it comes to overall health.
It should be noted that napping is not only for old people who are busy. It is also for children. Although children don’t have heavy work, they need nap as well for their growth. Some children sleep less as they grow up and they don’t nap because no one encourages them to. Due to the changes they have as they grow, their sleeping pattern becomes irregular. It should be the responsibility of the parents to invite the children to have a nap and to explain to them the benefits of nap to their growth. Actually is it not only a problem in the family but in the entire society. Some jurisdictions want to remove the nap break from preschools because they want to increase their curriculum which is very inappropriate. They should prioritize the health of the preschoolers too.
According to the latest study by Rebecca Spencer, having a daytime nap for young children is vital in their learning process. Having naps in classrooms increase the capabilities of the children to learn and memorize. On the other hand, children who are deprived of nap have poor performance in class. Rebecca Spencer concludes that, having a distributed sleep is vital in the learning process of young children. Thus, they should be encouraged to have daytime nap.
Another study concludes that naps have a great advantage in the abstract language and long term memory of infants. Infants who have enough naps are more likely to familiarize things faster. Those who are deprived of sleep are more likely to show anxiety, lack of interest, slow understanding and poor performance.
By learning the studies about the advantages of taking a nap, you’re probably thinking of having more naps in your daily life. Keep in mind that regular nap will help you become productive, alert, active and best in whatever you do.