Naps - The Art of the Siesta

After spending 24 hours awake to care for the husband the other day, I figured I'd write about naps.

Photo By: Jerith Sykes

From all my reading, there seems to be two schools of thought on the benefits of napping. One school believes that naps are good for you as naps can boost creativity, reduce stress, increase energy and alertness and may help heart heath. The other school believes that naps disrupt regular sleep patterns and really aren't restorative enough to be worthwhile.

Personally, I find naps to be very restorative and have been having a nap whenever I could since my university days. There have been times when my naps have backfired on me such as not having one that was long enough or (more frequently) for too long. Apparently, there is a Goldilocks time for having siestas and many places around the world have them built into the workday. So, Here are some tips for having a good nap.

• Have your nap between the hours of 1 pm-4 pm. This is when there is a natural dip in the sleep-wake cycle of most mammals (which humans are). Also if you take a nap any later than 4 pm you have the risk of disrupting your night time sleep. 
• Try to keep your naps short. Some believe that a nap of 20-45 minutes is perfect, others up to 120 minutes. I  tend to lean to the longer nap (mostly because I have trouble falling asleep in 20 minutes) but it also depends on what you have to do after the nap and how alert you have to be. So pick the length of time that suits you but be sure to have a nap that is no longer than 120 minutes.
• Set an alarm. This is to ensure that you don't oversleep.
• Have your nap in a restful place. A room that is dark, quiet and a comfortable temperature is best, also preferably lying down as it can take you up to 50% longer to fall asleep in a chair. 
• Have a cup of coffee or tea before you nap. This will allow you to be more alert when you wake up and it also takes 20-30 minutes for the caffeine in the drink to kick in.
• Don't worry if you don't sleep. Some people find that they can't sleep during the day. Instead use the time to meditate as is is believed that meditation can be as beneficial as naps. I have found that when I can't fall asleep just having a lie down can be restorative. 
• Be aware that after a long nap you may feel groggy and disoriented. This is called sleep inertia and can last a couple of minutes to half an hour after you wake up. Take this into account when planning your nap especially if you have to do something that requires you to be alert or requires precision immediately after waking.
• Having a nap is not a sign that you are lazy. Some of the most creative and productive people have been nappers such as Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Margaret Thatcher, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonardo DaVinci , Salvador Dali and Napoleon Bonaparte so you are in good company.

So go ahead and have that nap, It can do you a world of good.