Friday, September 16, 2011
Take a Nap! Change Your Life
Cool Tools: Napping is a evolutionarily habit that still works wonders today. I can get by with several hours less sleep per night by adding a 20-minute nap in the afternoon. But I work at home where napping is easily done. The point of this book is to persuade you that the benefits of napping, scientifically derived, are so great you should do everything you can to make napping a habit whatever your schedule.
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26 comments:
It is surprising how napping, although it may make a person feel like they are sleeping when they should be working, is actually a very productive tool. There are many excuses to not nap (many of the ones I have used are brought up here), but the replacements for them are useful. I remember learning about this in Metaskills last year, and I hope to be able to incorporate time to nap this year. As mentioned in the article, here's hoping for the return of the siesta in the workplace!
I have heard before how beneficial naps are, but don't often get an opportunity to nap conveniently. I think after reading this I will consciously seek time during the day to take a 20 minute nap as the article recommends. I' surprised that such a short amount of time makes such a difference. Of course, when I'm bogged down with lots of projects, I'll take any sleep I can get.
I have always been a fan of napping, and usually do feel my productivity levels go up. I completely agree with people who have a couch in their office specifically for mid-day cat naps. I would love to read this book and see if any specific information is aimed at college students, and how napping can affect studying/schoolwork. This seems to be a good book that will lead people out of the idea that naps are for lazy people, and help them find a way to make napping feel productive.
I also used to be against napping, mainly because when I would wake up I would feel more tired than I was before... But I've realized now that the tired feeling is only for ten minutes or so when I first wake up. After that I feel much more alert and ready to work. Where I worked this summer I often had an hour for dinner, and as an example that the article made, I would eat in twenty-thirty minutes and then nap for the rest of the time. It made such a huge difference in my efficiency for the rest of the day, and it definitely changed my opinion.
I knew napping had some benefits but I didn't know they were as great as this article makes them out to be. It is hard to fit it into my busy schedule at the School of Drama but it may be worth a try, I'm always battling tiredness during the day and perhaps this is the answer I've been looking for to battle my sleepiness.
Am I the only one who just can't fall asleep during the day? Napping is something I'd love to incorporate into my schedule, but as the article points out, I have no idea where to begin since obviously the naps we took in Kindergarten probably aren't what would serve me best today. Perhaps we can all find a chunk of the drama "dinner break" to devote to a few minutes of shut-eye, since the argument is that it will make us more productive crewmembers, and we'll still be able to sleep at night. I wouldn't be surprised if it started getting hard to find a seat in the green room once napping catches on!
My wife battles the concept of Napping like crazy because, like Tiff, she feels she's worse off than if she didn't. I believe it has more to do with a preconception we've already brought up: That napping means you're being unproductive.
What I appreciate in this article is its stress on bringing the concept of the Nap BACK and not that it's a new-fangled cure-all some fad doctor just made up. Cultures around the world have being Napping forever [see, Siesta, etc] and it's great to push the concept as a resurgence rather than trying to pass it off as something new no one's thought of before.
On another note, this might strengthen our argument for a PTM hammock...
I have seen most of these arguments for napping before in a web article that Stumbleupon decided to show me about polyphasic sleep. Polyphasic sleep is essentially alternate sleep schedules that use naps to sleep more productively than the standard eight-hour sleep schedule. This approach replaces approximately two hours of normal sleep with one twenty-minute nap. The ultimate sleep schedule, the Uberman, is six twenty-minute naps with one every four hours. The only problem with this is that the naps need to happen almost exactly hours apart or the person will experience extreme fatigue. I personally have never tried one of these sleep schedules, nor do I take naps during the day despite their benefits. This is mostly because I can’t find anywhere comfortable to sleep in the middle of the day.
I love naps. After a good nap I have so much more energy for the rest of the day! Especially if I have crew later that day I know I'll need at least a 20 minute nap to be fully productive. I don't know why so many people in the past have ragged on naps. They really can be helpful and this article really proves it. I used to always come up with excuses as to why I couldn't nap, like I was to busy and I have so much work to get done. But honestly my work is much better when I have more energy and I'm not tired and just waiting to go to bed. The nap has definitely helped me get through a lot of days. And I'm glad an article finally came out that proves that they are beneficial.
...(yes, DAVID says)...
plenty of places on campus to catch a nap. NO PTM HAMMOCK - VETO - NADA - NEGATIVE.
This is just another reminder that we need to go back to what we did in childhood. Remember when we were little kids, and they always forced us to have nap time. I too don't know how to nap. Whenever I try, I end up just lying there "trying" to fall asleep. I remember Joe talking about this freshman year in Meta Skills. The one thing that is important to remember if you are going to nap is to nap the proper amount of time, because it can definitely mess up your day if you nap for too long or too short a period of time.
Naps are wonderful. it's been proven that there is a natural loss of our energy midday, when we tend to go slower and be less alert. This only happens for a little bit, but taking a nap during that time is extremely beneficial.
I also need to bring up polyphasic sleep. There is a way to rewire yourself so that a normal 90 minute sleep cycle is condensed into a 20 minute nap. You can then use this to sleep significantly less and still be 100% alert, have 100% of your energy, and generally feel exactly as you would by sleeping 8 hours a night, but with sleeping only 4 or less hours, by using naps and spacing out your sleeping time during the day. WithOUT being sleep deprived, at all. I've done over a year of research on this and could write a paper, but that's probably not a good idea right now. I'll end by saying that there is a workable formula once you adjust that you can use to supplement a 'core nap' at night with naps through the day, needing less naps the more you sleep at night, but then needing more overall sleep.
I have a lot of trouble with naps. I tend to fall asleep for a lot longer than anticipated. If I could keep it to 20 minutes maybe I would indeed benefit from them. I may need to try this sometime soon. I also like the mention of guilt and feeling like you are being lazy. I think many of us in the theatre world share those feelings. We think about how much we could have done with an extra 20 minutes instead of thinking about the fact that if we had napped we might have been more productive with the rest of our time.
I think I should get this book. I Usually don't post on articles that have so many comments but I felt I had to say something. I too have a hard time napping I can't fall asleep and then I feel like I've just wasted time. I know if I did fall asleep it would be beneficial. Maybe the book has some tricks to help. I would like to have that nap because my regular schedule right now has about 6 hours a night. If a 20 min nap really replaces 2 hours of sleep at night, and I can do it, that would be perfect. I think it has to be incorporated the same way as nighttime sleep: on a regular schedule. You fall asleep at night because you always do it that way, if you regularly took naps then you would fall asleep at that time. At least that's the theory.
Although as Becca said the green room couch may run out of room.
I, like Devorah, find it difficult to maintain the concept of napping. Naps always turn into an extended sleeping time in my day that throws me off my schedule and confuses my body and mind to the point where I'm so confused that I can't get work done. I wish I could nap, I really do. But calculating the time that it takes to find a place to sleep, which is easier said than done, pull out my headphones and choose a playlist of instrumental music to drown out any noise that could possibly allow my brain to wander, and actually falling asleep, I've wasted away twenty minutes before even napping. Plus, during my day my brain is wired with about twenty "To-do" lists for every aspect of my life and no matter how much I try to write them down so that I can release my brain of some of those thoughts, they still happen. Therefore, napping is more of an annoyance rather than a necessity or luxury. Someone provide me with a mind vacuum, a bed in purnell, 20 minute sleeping pills, and a great pair of noise canceling headphones and I will become a happy napper.
I am not a napper. If I take a nap, it is usually not a good sign of my sleeping or eating habits. However I realize that Joe Pino has given all of us the run down and rules to make a nap a productivity boost. There are even people that never sleep for a long period of time, and instead just nap periodically. I will always be a fan of my bed, and sleeping in. It may not be the most productive way to spend my sleeping hours, but it works for me.
I completely agree with this article that naps are an effective and important tool to maintain alertness and productivity during the day. They usually make me feel more rested and mean that I can get through the end of a rehearsal and still have some energy for homework. However, like others on this thread, I find it difficult to keep naps down to 20 minutes. Especially after a few days of being tired, sleeping for 20 minutes and then having to get up and get back to work is a struggle and I sometimes find it easier to just stay awake the entire time. Especially if you are someone who gets grumpy after being woken up, sometimes a 20 minute nap in the middle of the day when you have things to do right away is not the best idea.
I am in the "pro-nap" camp. If I have crew or a project to work on late at night, I often find taking a nap, whether it involves sleeping or just laying down, acts as a reset period in my day, enabling me to get up and start afresh and be more productive overall.
I find it impossible to take a nap during the day, especially when i'm trying to be productive. Maybe it is because napping gets a lazy rep. The only times I find myself able to nap is when its raining or after 5 or 6 pm. And when i do nap i wake up groggy and tired. I may try naps again when I'm low on sleep, because this sounds like a great trick to have.
I believe this. When its 2pm and you know you'll be working for another 10 hours but feel like you just can't even stay awake for another 10 minutes, a nap will suddenly give you an incredible second wind. I have woken up from naps and felt like I'd never be tired again. Which sometimes can disrupt your nighttime's sleep. When I'm falling asleep reading a book or trying to study, I will let myself sleep (without setting an alarm or anything) and naturally, I think about one REM cycle later I'll wake up, not knowing where I am or what time it is, but feeling totally alert and relieved that only 15 or 20min have gone by. Sometimes naps can backfire because you'll sleep for 3 hours and wreck your day, night, and next day. But overall, I think naps are smart.
The trouble is, as a student, the word nap gets very confused with the words sleep for 48 hours. I should probably read that book and find the secret for not sleeping through my classes during the day. I have heard that sleeping for 20 min is actually refreshing although I do miss my 8+ hours sleeping at night. These are the changes one has to make as they take on more work. With effort, I will try not to be so pessimistic about naps, maybe I'll even try it out this week. It must be worth something because why would Europe close down from the hours of 1- 5?
I, for some reason, have never really been a napper, but now wonder how much more energy I could have gained in stressful weeks of works if I would have hit the sack for a good 20 minutes. I think my only conflict would be that hen in high school, we couldn't exactly sleep in class, but now that college has commenced a quick rest in between classes on a break is much more achievable! I definitely will give this a try- I can't find a reason why not to!
If you take a look at this book on Amazon it lets you read a few pages inside the book, and at one point the author mentions the issue a lot of people have with trying to keep their naps limited to a shorter amount of time. Based on what I could get from the article and the amazon pages, it looks like some of that has to do with what time you actually choose to take the nap in. She's got a nap-clock type thing on her website takeanap.info where you can move the hour hand to when you wake up and it will indicate what the optimal time for a 20 minutes nap might be. The pages on amazon also had a mention of not sleeping in a bed, but finding a place that comfortable enough for you to doze off but not get fully entrenched in sleep, like a comfy chair or a small couch you don't quite fit on.
I often have trouble when I go to nap that I end up sleeping for 8 hour blocks, so maybe I'll try timing the nap based on this clock thing and sleeping somewhere less comfortable to see if that helps any.
I find that napping is a person by person phenomenon. i find personally that naps mess up my schedule a lot more often than they help it. this being said i know other people who survive the long hours and long work weeks solely on the fact that they have perfected the energy nap. I also feel it takes a certain type of person and state of mind to have and be able to have an affective nap. as for me i feel like as much as you tell me it can be beneficial, it still doesn't work for me. many times I feel naps are just wasting my time.
I really want to nap during the day, but I feel so guilty about doing it. I feel like I haven't deserved a nap because I haven't gotten enough work done. I do understand that naps can actually help with getting work done, it's just hard to believe it. Unfortunately the "optimal" napping time is during 1-3 PM, and I have class then. Though I'd like to take a nap then, I'm pretty sure I'd get in trouble for doing so. But maybe once I get home for the day I can try it.
I like that it turns out that naps don't take away from how much sleep you'll get at night. Awesome, because I actually thought that naps would take away from night time sleep.
I found napping to be a great help this summer when I was working long spans of day. A quick afternoon nap always helped bring my productivity back up. I think the key is taking short naps, if you sleep too long you end up more tired. Twenty minutes is a good starting time, but a little bit you have to find what works for you.
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