Naps For Nursery Schoolers And 40-Something Women
I napped in nursery school and I've taken up the practice again, about every four or five hours. I wake up at 5 am most days to write, take nap number one in the late morning, and then nap number two in the early afternoon.
I nap for about the same time (26 minutes, with a minute to get settled) as Dr. Winter, a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (who apparently has no first name, as quoted by Heidi Mitchell in the WSJ):
Routine Naps A scheduled nap is healthier than catching up on or banking sleep. "Because sleep extension can make you feel groggy, I always recommend a short nap, at the same time, every day," if a person feels they need it, says Dr. Winter. He adds that 25 minutes is ideal. He tracks his alphawaves and sleep quality with a Zeo device, and sets his Sound Oasis machine to wake him after 25 minutes. "When you schedule a short nap, your body anticipates it and slows down, without falling into a deep dream sleep," he says. That refreshing, scheduled break is better than an occasional, disruptive weekend lie-in. "The body likes routine," he says. "When it's prepared, it works more efficiently."
I once took a single class of yoga I took -- and loathed it.
What I did learn from it is how to slow down my breathing.
The key, for me, is not to focus on trying to fall asleep but just on the breathing, and then I just do.
Napping, for me, is like a reboot. If I can even get in three or five minutes, I seem cognitively refreshed. Pretty amazing.
If I had a business where employees came, I'd have an employee nap room.
I also find that I can fight falling asleep for hours, nodding off, nodding off, in a state where I can't get anything done anyway, "but it would look bad to fall asleep", or I can take a 5 - 10 minute nap and feel much better, and yes, I think of it just like a reboot.
jerry at May 20, 2013 11:14 PM
Hm. I lost the urge to nap when I went low-carb.
Engineer at May 21, 2013 5:22 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/05/21/naps_for_nurser.html#comment-3715594">comment from EngineerI wouldn't need to nap if I were just doing daily activities. I am doing intense cognitive activity for hours and hours on end, every day, to get my book done, write my column, and prep for my radio show. I set a timer and write for an hour straight, no fooling around. I'm about to start right now, but I'm waking up and I need till about 5:30 am to do that -- coffee and Adderall are kicking in now.
Amy Alkon
at May 21, 2013 5:26 AM
Mythbusters© in early May showed that a fifteen-minute nap every six hours really helped Alaskan crab fishers, who often work 30 hours.
John A at May 21, 2013 8:25 AM
every few years my internal timeclock re-sets itself, but when my eyes starting pinging awake at 5am i resisted cause...freaking 5am!
i finally gave myself over to my circadian timelord, and take a short catnap around 4pm every day out on my balcony which gives me renewed energy for the rest of my day.
in addition to having more energy than ever, i am officially addicted to watching the world wake up around me.
rosalind at May 21, 2013 11:25 AM
I used to, when I worked in a big office building, take my lunch break, drive to a local park, and take a nap in the parking lot there. With about a hundred other people, also taking naps in their cars. A great big happy noontime sleep-in.
flbeachmom at May 21, 2013 12:08 PM
A few years back I went through insomnia something fierce, including sleep walking.
Worries about everything.
Then one morning around 2:00 am or so I just pretended I was washed up on a beach on a desserted island (like Tom Hanks) and I had to figure our how to survive the next few hours. I was asleep within 30 minutes, and that trick still works for me.
Eric at May 21, 2013 2:49 PM
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