Does Napping as a kid Make Us More Productive later in life?
Napping, which was previously linked to illness, is now being hailed as the best way to boost your productivity. It is claimed that Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci were fans of a quick kip now and then so it must work! In the modern age we adamantly fight off tiredness with a cup of coffee or a high sugar snack.
However, merely an hour or so passes and you find your eyes closing again … so you make another cup of coffee and last another hour. These short term fixes may eventually affect your ability to sleep well over night, so take advantage of the miraculous power nap! It is healthy, easy to fit into your work schedule and much more effective than a rush of caffeine or sugar.
How to power nap
There are two rules when it comes to power napping. Firstly, do not exceed 20 minutes, no matter how tempting it is to press the snooze button on your phone alarm. It is crucial that you stick to the 20 minute rule – any longer, and your mind and body will enter the stages of deeper sleep, leaving you with a groggy feeling throughout the afternoon.
Secondly, do not use power naps as a substitute for sleeping overnight. You should aim to sleep for 6 to 8 hours of sleep (it varies for each individual) every night in order to wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the tasks ahead. The power nap is simply a top up for your mind when you feel yourself wilting. Of course, in order to get a good night’s sleep you need a comfortable, supportive mattress. The UK’s leading producer and manufacturer of Memory Foam goods, so have a look if you are in need of a deeper, luxurious sleep with fewer disturbances from your partner’s movements and the elimination of morning aches and pains…
Don’t force yourself to have a nap if you are not tired during the day though! This simply means that your body is sufficiently rested overnight and doesn’t require a midday top up. In this case, napping can do more harm than good as it is actually possible to oversleep, leading to ‘sleep drunkenness’! However, experts claim that the majority of us would benefit from a power nap. The body suffers a natural period of drowsiness roughly 8 hours after getting up in the morning, hence why children and the elderly rest around this time. Yet as we reach adulthood and our lives get busier and more stressful, we ditch the afternoon nap and force ourselves to slave through the whole day instead. When you are feeling tired after rushing around and thinking hard all morning it makes sense to take 20 minutes out and refresh your mind in preparation for the afternoon’s tasks!
US companies such as Nike and Google have embraced the power nap with open arms, creating nap rooms for their employees and distributing free sleeping masks and nap mats. The results speak for themselves with workers taking fewer sick days and demonstrating greater productivity in the afternoon. The wider health benefits include fewer mood swings, lower risk of a heart attack, clearer thinking and increased stamina and physical energy.
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