Naps are tricky things, sometimes they leave you feeling refreshed and energised while other times you feel even more exhausted! However, sometimes it feels impossible to make it through the day without having a nap to slip a little something-something into our tank. Do naps really deserve their place in our lives or should we find another solution to fix our sleepiness?
Most of us have experienced the miraculous saving power of a quick power nap when we're dead beat in the middle of the day. Naps can definitely give you a kick in the pants when you need it most and make you feel more alert and in control.
Naps that are slightly longer than your usual power nap can be really good for your brain and its cognitive processes. According to NASA, naps can improve your working memory. They can also help your brain retain and process information better.
The mid-day exhaustion can sometimes make you feel like a downright scrooge. By boosting energy levels and putting a little pip in your step, naps can raise your mood and make you a little nicer to talk to!
The pros and cons of naps are roughly about evened out, but the most important point here is that naps are really just temporary solutions to our sleep issues. Most of us utilise a monophasic sleep cycle, meaning we only need one good, long period of sleep a day. Naps don't contribute to this sleep cycle and can even disrupt it, which means that they aren't really a good idea for most of us. However, there are certain lifestyles where naps form a necessary part of your sleep cycle.
Some of us don't have the opportunity to get a full night's sleep due to career or lifestyle reasons. For example, shift workers and parents raising a new-born baby are not able to get long hours of uninterrupted sleep, so naps fit in nicely here. They can also be necessary for people whose jobs require them to constantly be on the highest level of alertness, such as drivers or security personnel. Having a power nap can help these people stay focused at work so that the risk of fatigue-related accidents is lower. If you find yourself in a similar situation, then it may be worth considering making adjustments to your sleep cycle.
It can be difficult making a switch to such sleep cycles, so it's important to speak to a sleep expert to get advice on on the matter and whether it's truly suitable for your needs the experts at our Active Health Labs will be more than happy to assist you. Whether you actually need to adopt a different sleep cycle to suit your lifestyle or if you just enjoy taking naps to revive your energy levels during the day, it's important to know how to maximise the benefits from your naps. Here are some nap-time rules
However, as mentioned earlier, naps are just a short-term solution to combating fatigue. When you constantly feel like you need a nap, it's really a sign that your body needs more quality sleep at night. Getting more hours of sleep will help you feel more energetic during the day and reduce the need for naps so you can spend your daytime hours more productively. All you need to do is make some adjustments to your lifestyle habits in the following ways.
It's undeniable how naps do occasionally come in handy, but unless your lifestyle deprives you of the chance to get a full night's rest, it will be far more beneficial in the long-term to focus on getting more sleep at night instead of just jamming in more naps. While naps do come with certain benefits, they are only a short-term solution. Plus, it's no fun having to constantly come up with new and inventive ways to sneak in a snooze without the boss knowing!
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