We all know that naps are good for you.
Taking a nap can give you extra rest, help you hit an important ‘reset’ button on your day, and can also make up for lost sleep.
Naps are pretty universally considered beneficial for both children and adults.
However, we recently sat down to have a conversation with someone who uses naps to great effect in a variety of ways as a normal part of their schedule—and they had some things to say about it that you may not have considered before.
Keep in mind that any evidence implied within this post is purely anecdotal.
And the accounts expressed in this article are merely the stories of one person.
However, the insight may prove useful to people who are wondering if a nap could help them to overcome certain hurdles in their day.
So let’s jump into it.
1. Naps Can Help Your Mental Health
We all know that sleep is good for the brain.
It provides a time for cell rejuvenation and to clear out toxins.
However, the individual we interviewed (a self-employed professional who regularly goes to the gym and has an active social life, who also takes at least a couple of naps every week) also took this a step further in saying that if they were feeling particularly depressed or sad for the beginning portion of the day, a nap sometimes helped to reverse the problem.
“Sometimes if I’m feeling particularly down, I’ll take a quick nap. Generally, it’ll be one to three hours in length. And that’ll just have a tremendous positive impact on the rest of my day. It’s almost like it just makes my sadness, frustration, depression, etc. go away, and helps me to hit a reset button. It may not work for everyone. But it really works for me.”
2. Naps Tend To Work Better When You Don’t Use An Alarm
Obviously, it isn’t always feasible to nap without using an alarm.
However, if you do have the time to allow yourself to sleep until you wake up, it may bring about some extra benefits.
Here’s what our busy ‘nap afficionado’ interviewee told us when asked about this.
“I try to let myself nap until I wake up naturally. This always seems to work better and leaves me feeling more refreshed. I think it has to do with sleeping for a full REM cycle. I think that you naturally are more likely to wake up after being in a full REM cycle, which seems to have a more rejuvenating effect on the brain.”
3. Naps Can Keep You Awake At Night
We also know that it’s important to be careful not to let naps impact your quality of rest in the evening.
Here’s what our interviewee had to say about this.
“I try to nap before 2pm If I’m going to do it at all. If I nap for one, two, or three hours before 2pm, that can really help me to hit the reset button on my day and give me more energy for the second half. However, I notice that if I try to take a nap after that, it can really hurt my ability to fall asleep in the evening.”
Conclusion
There you have it.
Three little known facts about napping that might help to give you a slightly different perspective on your own napping habits.
Remember, every person is a little bit different. So what works for one way may not work for another.
But it might be worth a try. Right?