lifehacker.com: After more than a century with an image problem, napping is getting a rebrand, courtesy of the U.S. Army. Many of our perceptions of naps—and the kind of people who take them—go back to Victorian times, when women were seen as physiologically weak and frail and prone to fainting, requiring periods of rest and recovery to get through the day.
14 comments:
I am a nap fiend. I nap whenever I get the chance (this can mean at least three times a day). My belief about naps is, if you are falling asleep - you aren’t going to be able to function well and your tasks will take longer. So indulge, take a nap, and then come back to your task fresh. I have never had a problem with napping so much that I can’t sleep at night - but this is a genuine concern I know for a lot of people (and something that my mom yells at me a lot about). I know a lot of my friends avoid taking naps from like 1 pm on, because they “won’t go to sleep that night.” Napping is a very personal experience and you will figure out what is best for your own body and needs. Although I don’t like the Army in any other sense, I will stand with them and their support of naps.
I love to nap. It is my best friend, especially on days where there is a lot of work that needs to be done. I honestly do not know how I would function if I did not have the little time breaks to take a nap. A nap not only helps me gain back some of the energy that I have lost, but it also refreshes my mind, which is very much needed, else I could be staring at my work for hours at length and achieve nothing.
I have heard a lot of army naps, and then are so interesting to me, because of how it trains to be able to sleep anywhere, anytime because you need to. I honestly believe that this should be a technique which should be taught to everyone, just because naps are just so helpful. They can really turn an unproductive day around for the better.
I am all for making napping more mainstream. There are some days in college where functioning without a nap seems impossible, so I can’t even imagine how badly members of the army may need one. I love the idea of taking the stigma away from napping, especially since most of the world already has. A great way to remove that stigma is seeing how members of the army use it to remain sharp and keep up their energy, which are things that technically everyone should always be striving for regardless of their military status anyway. It was also very interesting to read the history of napping and how it was mostly reserved for women in the days of corsets and hoop skirts. I personally would love for women, and everyone ever born, to continue to nap at their hearts content because they are not napping because they are weak; they are napping because they have worked so incredibly hard and deserve a solid fifteen minutes where the only thing they have to worry about is if they want to nap on the couch or the bed.
I nap nearly on a daily basis. As someone who wakes up early, getting enough sleep at night doesn't always happen and so I compensate by napping during the day. In fact, I napped for over an hour today. I get tired of doing the most basic tasks I can't imagine being in the military, napping seems very important. I was unaware of the stigma tied to napping. A lot of my friends take naps too and it seems to me like a very widespread and normal activity. It is interesting to examine the historical roots of the napping stigma and how it's traced back to women because they were "weaker". I am a strong advocate of napping. It helps me get through the day so I have enough energy to cook dinner and do my homework and have time for other activities. I think in the theater industry when so much work is done at night napping should be a widespread activity as well. Getting enough sleep is essential to being able to think well and safely things that are very necessary in theater.
This is definitely an interesting title and the idea was enticing enough to decide to give it a read. I had no idea about the Victorian perceptions of napping and its connection to women. One of my favorite fun facts is that Giraffes get only a fraction of the sleep that we do and they do it in three to five minute increments. I used to joke that I wanted to sleep like a Giraffe, now I might have to adopt the US Army’ sleeping suggestion. I think many of my fellow college students can empathize with having “sleep dept”, even if not to the same degree as our soldiers. I have been told you cannot “catch up on sleep”, so this aggressive napping strategy being used to “pay back sleep debt” is interesting and hopefully effective. I might need to do some experiential research on the matter. I think one of the most interesting sentences of the article is the last one, that sleep is connected to decision making. This informs why the article would be written by an ethics professor and is very informative on why sleep is truly important.
-Ariel Bernhard
First off, it’s nice to see that the army redid their field manual to include things like sleep, nutrition and mental wellness. These things are critical if you want maximum energy and focus and so I sure hope soldiers use them to be more alert.
I’ve always been told not to nap during the day because it will disrupt sleeping patterns. As someone who doesn’t fall asleep very well, I NEVER use caffeine or take naps. If I’m tired I just kind of endure it. But I’m definitely going to look into the science of napping a bit more. Im all for listening to your body so maybe I’ll try napping next time I’m tired. They mentioned in the article that in the afternoon we usually get pretty tired and I definitely feel that. Especially if it’s hot, or after I’ve eaten a big meal 1pm-2 pm is sleepy time. I’ve never been able to sleep when there is light out though so I’ll have to invest in some good blackout blinds if I’m going to make napping work.
I’m glad to see the military is taking a more holistic view to health and fitness and are embracing how vital sleep is for making good decisions as well as functioning at a high level in day to day activities. I can’t imagine the stress and fatigue felt by soldiers deployed on missions and if they’ve determined “aggressive napping” as a viable strategy I’m sure it’s a valid approach. In terms of how we could implement in our daily life I think starting to rebrand the ideas of naps as being lazy, I think getting sleep when you need it is crucial to functioning as well as possible. Of course I think as the article mentions you have to be aware of not interfering with your sleep at night, but if you can supplement that sleep and feel more well rested I don’t see why you shouldn’t try and take advantage of it. I would’ve been interested to see more info about the appropriate lengths of time for napping.
I chuckled audibly when I read “strategic and aggressive napping.” I have certainly taken quite a few aggressive naps in my career, and I can attest to their utility. I would say, though, that ultimately there is no substitute for a good night’s sleep. And a pre-show nap can just dig you further down into grogginess if you’re unlucky. I suppose, however, that the military has the resources to devote to thoroughly studying the “aggressive nap.” I have read some extreme sleep theories/strategies, which are all supposed to reduce time wasted while asleep. Besides my basic objection that time sleeping is not time wasted, I think these theories are brutal and unhumanistic. The army’s new guidelines, on the other hand, seem to be based on human needs. It seems wise to theorize that serving a person’s needs makes them more lively and productive, rather than working backwards from the required productivity to the allotted sleep.
I have pulled so many all-nighters that I will likely have sleep debt until I die. Between that and a naturally delayed circadian rhythm that makes it hard to go to sleep at night, I love a chance to take a break at night. Although actually falling asleep for a nap can be tricky sometimes, even just lying down for a while can be energizing. I’m glad that the importance of sleep, and mental health overall is getting the attention it deserves. I hope that it can be paired with a realization that a 40 hour work week is not necessary for a productive society and we can drop the idea that we all need to be up at a certain hour of the day. Until that the day comes, I’ll keep napping in the day to make up for the fact that I can’t sleep at night and have to be up early in the morning.
I used to never take naps and barely even sleep on top of that. But nowadays sleeping and taking naps is some of the only enjoyment and peace I get day to day. Especially factoring the extra fatigue that comes with online learning and needing to be on a screen all the time. Generally I’m not worried about it impacting how well I sleep at night since for the most part I don’t sleep well regardless. Usually I figure that if I’m so tired that I can fall asleep during the day, I’m not going to be able to push myself to get work done instead. Better to get some sleep at some point in the day than almost none.
The part in the article that mentions the afternoon ‘dep’ in alertness being especially noticeable in people with significant sleep debt is absolutely true. I often don’t sleep was well as I should and I tend to crash pretty hard around 2-3pm. I’m glad that the military is changing in a way that benefits the people serving them and allowing them to get more sleep.
I love naps. Over the years, I have found that whenever I am feeling groggy in the afternoon because of a lack of sleep, a solid 20-30 minute nap really gives me a burst of energy to get through the rest of my day. My mom, on the other hand, is one of those people who can not take a nap because they will not be able to go to sleep at night. I have read similar articles in the past about how soldiers practice techniques to fall asleep super fast in order to get the most out of their downtime, but napping is a new technique for me. I understand that our bodies have a natural awake and asleep rhythm and for some people, naps can throw off that rhythm. While I have never experienced a sense of insomnia at night because of a nap, I always try to keep my power naps under an hour and before 6pm.
This is very interesting. I am not a big fan of naps, but I understand their purpose when used correctly. The Army released this manual which states ideas I have already observed in friends. Friends who are avid nappers utilize naps but in the exact way that the Army explains is inappropriate which is why I am often against napping. They tend to purposely stay up late and are required to wake up earlier than a full nights rest, so they go through the day and then take a long nap and repeat a vicious cycle essentially messing up their circadian rhythm. On the other hand, I have only taken a few naps in my life and they have always occurred when I was unable to provide a proper night’s sleep due to circumstances out of my control. Naps in these scenarios are useful as they give you the boost you need to finish the day but still leave you tired at the appropriate time for a full night’s sleep. My one question for this article is what to do when you are unable to fall asleep at an appropriate time? Some soldiers find it difficult early on to fall asleep because they are on edge from the day but are still tired, where do naps fit into that scenario, as napping could end up causing the vicious cycle already mentioned?
I am absolutely crying at the fact that this is called “aggressive napping”. I am a huge advocate for napping because I desperately need it to get through my days sometimes. When I’m not in classes I’m usually babysitting, which after a while, makes me really sluggish by the time it hits 3PM. A short little cat nap and I’m awake for the rest of the evening ready to do homework. Like Lauren said, I’m happy the army is including a more holistic view to health and endurance. When my brother was in the Air Force, he would come home and tell me about how brutal it was because they were running off of little sleep a lot of the time. Still can’t over the name aggressive napping, but I’m glad they are starting to destigmatize the idea of napping equaling laziness, when in reality it’s necessary for the continuation of hard work.
This article is honestly so validating. I have been wanting to find some way to justify napping as an adult, and this just might be the thing to do it. I do not know if it is the Zoom fatigue or just spending all day in my bedroom, but since we have gone remote with classes, I am finding it harder and harder to make it through a day without taking at least a 30 minute nap. It is really the most rejuvenating thing I can do for myself on days where I feel sluggish or out of it. I always feel way better after a short nap, and if I do not get to on days where I want to, it can lead to some of my worst days in terms of mood and productivity. If I am tired all day long, there is nothing I can do to make myself work more or better except take a nap. I do not think this has anything to do with a lack of sleep either, because I have had a way more consistent sleep schedule of 8 hours/ night since quarantine started. There is just something about a nap that makes any day that much better.
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