Napping is a natural part of the human experience. Throughout history, naps have been used to increase alertness and productivity, whether it was for a brief rest or longer periods of sleep.
It’s not just humans who take naps. Many animals do too! Dogs are one such example. They’re known to sleep for up to 18 hours per day. But even more impressive than this is their ability to enter REM sleep faster than any other animal.
The Power of Naps
Naps are a form of sleep, and they’re just as restorative as regular sleep. A nap can be as short as ten minutes or last up to an hour, but the most important thing is that you feel refreshed when you wake up. Napping gives your brain a chance to recharge after a long period of activity. Naps increase alertness and energy levels, improve moods, sharpen focus and memory and boost creativity by connecting disparate thoughts in novel ways.
Places You Can Take a Nap
Napping is an activity that can be enjoyed in many places. While napping in bed is, of course, one option for a nap, there are others you might consider as well.
In Your Car
If you’re stuck in traffic or on a long road trip, why not take advantage of this time by taking a quick snooze? It’s easy to drift off while driving down the highway and wake up feeling refreshed when it’s time to get back on track with your travels.
At Work
You might think taking naps at work would make you seem lazy, but that’s not necessarily true! Taking regular breaks throughout the day can help boost productivity and creativity while reducing stress levels overall.
In a Massage Chair
If you have a massage chair, you can take advantage of its relaxing effects on your body and mind. These massage chairs often come with sleep mode settings that make it easy to nap in the chair without waking up stiff or sore.
You can also set a timer so that the chair automatically turns off after 15 minutes, which will help ensure that you don’t fall asleep for too long and wake up feeling groggy.
If your massage chair isn’t equipped with sleep mode, try turning the heat down to prevent overheating while sleeping. In winter months, this may not be possible, but many massage chairs allow users to control how much air gets pumped into the cushions while they’re sitting still in their normal position.
How Naps Differ From Regular Sleep
Naps Are Shorter Than Regular Sleep
Whereas you might spend eight hours in bed at night, a nap will only last for 30 minutes or less. This makes naps more efficient because they give you the same benefits as longer sleep but in less time.
Naps Are More Likely to Be Interrupted
You may have trouble falling asleep for another reason, for example, if you wake up because the sun is shining too brightly through the window of your bedroom. If this happens during a nap and you don’t get at least half of your planned sleep time, then it doesn’t count as a nap anymore.
Rested People Are Kinder, More Cooperative, and Productive
In addition to being a great way to rest and recover from stress, napping can make you more productive. A study by Loughborough University found that people with lower quality sleep were less likely to be able to concentrate on tasks at hand when they woke up during the day. This means that if your body doesn’t get all the sleep it needs, then you’ll have trouble focusing on your job or other responsibilities when work is over for the day.
Naps also help restore your emotional health, which will, in turn, make you more cooperative and kinder toward others. Especially those around you at home or work! One study found that naps improved emotional intelligence by almost 50%. Naps can also reduce anxiety levels by 34% and depression symptoms by 25%. So grab some shut-eye whenever possible.
Benjamin Franklin Built a Career Around Naps
You can’t talk about napping without talking about Benjamin Franklin. He was a prolific napper, and he even wrote an essay on the subject called “Advice to a Young Tradesman.”
Franklin advised that people should take “a nap of 20 minutes” in the morning, afternoon and evening, but only if they were feeling stressed out. In other words, don’t take a nap if you’re not tired!
Napping Is Good for Your Heart
Naps Can Lower Your Blood Pressure
A 1992 study of 18- to 30-year-old volunteers found that a nap during the day is linked with lower blood pressure. After the nap, their systolic and diastolic pressures increased less than when they didn’t take one.
Naps Can Help Reduce Stress
The napping brains of 24 volunteers were imaged while they slept following a stressful task. The researchers found that people who took longer naps had more activity in the part of their brain responsible for emotions than those who took shorter naps or no naps at all, which suggests that sleep helps us deal with negative emotions like anger or frustration. It also helps us perform tasks related to those feelings. When we’re upset about something, we may be less likely to do something productive toward solving it!
Naps Can Help Us Learn New Things and Think More Clearly
Napping can help us learn new things. Naps are thought to be an effective way of consolidating and strengthening memories by allowing the brain time to process information and store it more effectively in long-term memory while we sleep.
This means that if you have something new you need to teach yourself, whether it’s a foreign language or how to play guitar, a short nap may help with learning this skill.
A study from Harvard University found that students who took regular breaks during their studying sessions were able to retain information better than those who didn’t take breaks at all! It seems like taking regular breaks during work could pay off in terms of improved productivity overall!
Napping is a good way to recharge yourself and get ready for the rest of the day. It can help you feel more alert and productive after waking up, and it doesn’t have any negative effects on your body or mind. Some studies even show that people who nap regularly may live longer than those who don’t take naps at all!