In honor of National Napping Day, the question on my mind is to nap or not to nap? Not coincidentally, National Napping Day follows on the heals of losing an hour of sleep to Daylight Savings Time over the weekend. Enticing as it is, though, is napping a good thing for us? The answer to that is both “Yes” and “No”. Now you may say, “Um hello I work all day, so napping is not an option for me”. However, research has shown that a short twenty minute power nap can be very beneficial, improving alertness and energy the rest of the workday. In other countries, siestas are part of the culture. Everything slows to a stop so that people can recharge mentally and physically. I believe that they are onto something indeed especially living in our “Run, run, run”, sleep deprived culture.
Working with teenagers, I often hear about their routine after school naps and then their groans at my attempts to shorten or eliminate them. In many cases, these several hour naps will interfere with the sleep cycle, making it difficult to fall asleep at night. It creates a problem in that teens can’t sleep at night and then have to nap to make up the sleep debt after school.
So here is what sleep experts say about length of naps:
1. Ten to Twenty minute naps are ideal because the body doesn’t go into deep REM sleep so it is much easier to get up and moving with this short nap. These power naps create a boost in energy and increased alertness without the individual being groggy afterwards and struggling to get back into the routine.
2. Thirty minute naps are restorative but present a challenge upon waking with overcoming the grogginess to reengage in your routine. This groggy feeling can last up to thirty minutes before the restorative benefit of the nap kicks in. Not a great option if you have to go right into a meeting or get in the car to pick up Johnny from school.
3. Sixty minute naps will improve your ability to remember facts, faces and names. But again, this sleep will be accompanied by grogginess when awakening. This sleep is characterized as slow wave sleep which is also a deep sleep unlike the twenty minute naps that are non REM, light sleep.
4. Ninety minute naps involve a full cycle of sleep, including light sleep as well as the restorative deep REM phase where an individual may even dream (maybe about work disappearing upon awakening). Unlike the other naps, this one is much easier to awake from without the grogginess. Naps of this length lead to improved emotional and procedural memory as well as creativity.
So, in conclusion, the best and most realistic nap for most of us is 20 minutes. However, if time allows, the 90 minute nap will do the most to restore memory, increase energy and alertness and even improve creativity. A word of caution, though. Napping too late in the day may create challenges with sleep at bedtime, thereby increasing the stress that you just slept away. So now that you have the facts, “Happy Napping All”! I'm going to head to my couch to take a quick 20 minute snooze!
Working with teenagers, I often hear about their routine after school naps and then their groans at my attempts to shorten or eliminate them. In many cases, these several hour naps will interfere with the sleep cycle, making it difficult to fall asleep at night. It creates a problem in that teens can’t sleep at night and then have to nap to make up the sleep debt after school.
So here is what sleep experts say about length of naps:
1. Ten to Twenty minute naps are ideal because the body doesn’t go into deep REM sleep so it is much easier to get up and moving with this short nap. These power naps create a boost in energy and increased alertness without the individual being groggy afterwards and struggling to get back into the routine.
2. Thirty minute naps are restorative but present a challenge upon waking with overcoming the grogginess to reengage in your routine. This groggy feeling can last up to thirty minutes before the restorative benefit of the nap kicks in. Not a great option if you have to go right into a meeting or get in the car to pick up Johnny from school.
3. Sixty minute naps will improve your ability to remember facts, faces and names. But again, this sleep will be accompanied by grogginess when awakening. This sleep is characterized as slow wave sleep which is also a deep sleep unlike the twenty minute naps that are non REM, light sleep.
4. Ninety minute naps involve a full cycle of sleep, including light sleep as well as the restorative deep REM phase where an individual may even dream (maybe about work disappearing upon awakening). Unlike the other naps, this one is much easier to awake from without the grogginess. Naps of this length lead to improved emotional and procedural memory as well as creativity.
So, in conclusion, the best and most realistic nap for most of us is 20 minutes. However, if time allows, the 90 minute nap will do the most to restore memory, increase energy and alertness and even improve creativity. A word of caution, though. Napping too late in the day may create challenges with sleep at bedtime, thereby increasing the stress that you just slept away. So now that you have the facts, “Happy Napping All”! I'm going to head to my couch to take a quick 20 minute snooze!
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