Tuesday, June 9, 2015

The Benefits of an Adult taking a Mid-day Power Nap

It happens to everyone occasionally: that often ill-timed little head bob as you catch yourself nodding off to sleep. Daytime drowsiness is your body’s way of signaling that you haven’t had enough sleep. When you’re sleepy, you feel sluggish and your thought processes and reaction times slow. You also tend to be more irritable when you’re tired. Enter the power nap – a short daytime nap that refreshes your body and brain and relieves some of the unpleasant after-effects of too little sleep. 

Sharper Thinking
Your brain is heavily dependent on getting enough sleep, and it’s the first of your body organs to malfunction when you don’t. When you’re sleepy, you tend to:


  • be forgetful
  • lack creativity
  • daydream or lose focus
  • make errors in judgment
  • have difficulty performing complicated tasks

NASA-sponsored research conducted by doctors at the University of Pennsylvania found short naps lead to clearer thinking and improvement in all of these areas for subjects with sleep restricted schedules. Several large companies have taken notice of the performance benefits of so-called NASA naps and offer sleeping rooms so their employees can take a short snooze during the workday.

Better Mood
Your family, friends and co-workers might know when you haven’t gotten enough sleep without you telling them. Even one bad night’s sleep can leave you feeling unusually anxious, irritable, short-tempered and down in the dumps. These negative effects on your mood can add to your already foggy thinking and might make you even less productive.

Napping has a positive effect on your mood when you’re sleep-deprived. And because of how your brain is wired, when you feel better, you do better. Benefits of napping on mood include:

  • more energy and motivation
  • improved ability to cope with everyday stresses and irritations
  • a more positive outlook and attitude.

Getting the Most Out of a Nap
As with so many things in life, timing is everything when it comes to a great adult nap. Early afternoon is usually the best time of day for a nap. There is a natural lull in your body’s daily rhythm from about 1 to 3 p.m., which can make it an optimal time for a short daytime snooze. Napping during the evening is generally not a good idea because it could interfere with your nighttime sleep.

How long you sleep is also important in terms of getting the most benefit from a nap. To avoid feeling groggy when you wake up, limit your nap to less than an hour. However, you don’t need to sleep a full hour to reap the benefits of a nap on your mood and thinking. A nap as short as 20 to 30 minutes will do the trick. In fact, even a 10-minute nap can help counter sluggish thinking.

When to See Your Doctor
While short power naps are a healthy and effective way to deal with occasional daytime sleepiness, it’s important to see your doctor if you’re sleepy most days. Many medical and mental health conditions can cause ongoing daytime sleepiness, which increases your risk for accidents and some serious health problems. It’s important to find out what’s interfering with you sleep so you can get back to consistently enjoying a good night’s sleep and feeling healthy and vibrant during the day.

References & Resources

  1. Clinical Neurophysiology of Sleep Disorders; Christian Guilleminault, M.D.
  2. Seminars in Neurology: Neurocognitive Consequences of Sleep Deprivation
  3. Acta Astronautica: Optimizing Sleep/Wake Schedules in Space: Sleep During Chronic Nocturnal Sleep Restriction With and Without Diurnal Naps
  4. Sleep.org: Sleeping at Work — Companies With Nap Rooms and Snooze-Friendly Policies
  5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration: NASA Naps
  6. Journal of Sleep Research: Benefits of Napping in Healthy Adults: Impact of Nap Length, Time of Day, Age, and Experience With Napping
  7. Why We Nap: Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep; Claudio Stampi, M.D., Ph.D.
  8. National Sleep Foundation: Sleep Drive and Your Body Clock
  9. Journal of Thoracic Disease: Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Sleep Disorders
  10. Journal of Psychiatric Research: Determining the Level of Sleepiness in the American Population and Its Correlates


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