To nap or not to nap?
To nap or not to nap?
Napping, is a bit of a marmite subject. It is seen as an indulgence or something out of the reach of a busy life, or as a highly valued as part of life’s coping mechanisms!
Nevertheless, the science behind napping says that if you get it right, it’s going to be of benefit. NASA found napping increases alertness, and MRIs have shown that higher brain activity lasts longer in the day if you take a nap. It’s shown to lift your mood, improve your health and improve creativity .
So here are some of the suggestions from sleep scientists to optimise your naps:
- Schedule your nap time for the middle of your waking day.
- Take a long nap (we’re talking 90 minutes for best effect). If you don’t have time for that, the next best thing is a shorter 15-20 minute nap. This gives our brains and bodies time to recover, but not to enter the deep sleep that if we wake from we feel groggy.
- You could try having a caffeinated drink before you nap. The idea here is that you wake feeling more refreshed (although there’s not a huge amount of science to back this up!)
One final note, you don’t need to feel like you’ve fallen into a deep sleep, just a light snooze is enough to gain benefit. On that note, I’m off to find my sofa!
