I think I should take naps. I stopped taking them when I was six and, frankly, things have been a little crazy ever since.
The benefits of napping are numerous. First of all, it’s what our bodies want. You’re not imagining that urge to sleep in the afternoon; it’s real. In a 24-hour period, our bodies experience two distinct dips in alertness, one at about 2:00 am and another at about 2:00 pm. Studies show that surrendering to the sleepy (at least for a short nap) would actually increase our awareness and boost our performance. Secondly, for the chronically sleep deprived (which is everyone I know), naps have the same positive effects as nighttime sleep – improved learning, alertness and productivity.
Plus, naps are cool. The list of well known nappers is impressive: Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci and John F. Kennedy, to name a few. My friends who nap all seem very Zen and confident. “I just took a nap,” they say, those bright-eyed slackers, and I marvel at the utter lack of apology in their voices. I want to join their club.
But I can’t. One of two things happens whenever I try to nap. Either I fall asleep instantly and sleep right through whatever alarm I’ve set to make sure I get up in twenty minutes, or I’m so nervous about doing that that I don’t sleep at all. The instant I begin to drift I awake with a start, staring at the clock, certain that hours have passed, when in fact, it’s only been a minute or two. It is, for me, the opposite of restful. It makes me cranky (which, ironically, used to be the sign that I needed a nap).
So the question of the day is… Do you nap?
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And now for something completely different… The name and tag line say it all: Cake Wrecks, When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.
Wild
Not a napper–always thought I would miss something if I slept during the day. And I hate the disoriented, groggy feeling of waking up from one(when really ill or completely wiped out, yes, I have succumbed a few times to a nap).
Cake Wrecks is one of my favorite places to visit online. My daughter’s, too. She has even started checking out the bakeries in supermarkets to see if she can find some Wrecks.
Yes, I imagine that I’m a lot less alert at 2:00 AM, you?
You’re napping is very much like what I experience wanting to take a nap so I don’t.
I remember I couldn’t do it even as a kid, my mom tried to make me sit in my room and nap but I was playing or just laying around, no napping going on since I was around 3.
Most of the times I wish I could nap though, but I guess I just really have a problem with sleeping when I know the Sun is up :)
I wake up at odd hours in the morning too if the shades are cracked and light comes in so I have to get up, close them properly and try going back to sleep. :)
Tina, I used to have that problem when I was a kid. I found it hard to go to sleep, day or night, if other people were still up because I thought I’d miss something. I remember trying so hard to keep my eyes open.
Cake wrecks! I think every cake I’ve ever baked probably qualified, but not quite so spectacularly as the ones on this site.
Frankie, I occasionally manage to test that theory out and I can say unequivocally that I am less alert at 2 am. I’ve been known to slip away to dreamland without benefit of sleep at 2 am.
Estrella, In the article on the benefits of napping, it ends by asking if napping is right for you and one of the things it says is that some people are extra sensitive to sunlight and may find it impossible to nap while the sun is up. Maybe you need to save your naps for rainy days? =)
You know, I used to be a great “catnapper” just doze off for fifteen minutes and I was good to go, but then I started writing this novel. I don’t know why I gave them up. Possibly, some writing problem could be solved during a nap.
Yep. I’m going sleeptime every afternoon from now on.
I always knew Miss Burr was more than just a pretty face. She was obviously wise beyond her years. She would take time from her busy day to often explain to me, and others, the value of taking naps. And she did so long before the article you referenced in your post was ever published.
Yep, lots to be said for my Kindergarten teacher!!
Taking a nap out on the beach is just about my favorite thing to do in life. The sounds. The smells. The heat of the sand. Call me in about 30 minutes and life is just toooooo good!
As for some of the great ones in history taking naps, Einstein, Da Vinci, Reagan (although I’m not quite sure he did it on purpose during the cabinet meetings), well, I always knew we had things in common!!
Linda, You could be onto something. Almost without exception, my writing problems are NOT solved by continuing to write while frustrated. A nap might be the just the thing. Hmmm…
Bobby, Yeah, when I turned 6, I lost track of dear Mrs. Crew, who also touted the benefits of nap time. I’m heading to the coast today, in fact. If I nap, it will be Bobby-inspired.
Oh yeah, the wisdom of people like Miss Burr and Mrs. Crew is not to be taken lightly. I thought they were super geniuses for handing out apple juice and graham crackers alone!
I’m pretty sure JFK’s “naps” weren’t solo.
But the others were probably actually sleeping.
I like naps. I listen to my body and if it says sleep. I sleep. I also like to maintain a regular sleep schedule for health reasons.
Napping outside on a blanket at the park is heaven. [I once woke up because a male deer walked over me]
I LOVE cake wrecks. I use that site every day as laugh therapy. The literal cakes and creepy cakes are my favorites.
It occurs to me …. if you want to try making napping part of your routine, maybe you need a bed that alarms and elevates to an angle that dumps you out of it, like something out of Wallace & Gromit, then you could nap without fear of oversleeping…..
Love naps.
You could try napping someplace other than your bed. Like a hammock in the yard, on the sofa with a (boring) book, somewhere next to a window where the sun is streaming in. It shouldn’t be like going to bed at night. I never drive sleepy and when I find myself getting that way, I have no problem pulling over, locking the doors and sleeping for 20 or so minutes. With three small dogs, just sitting down gets one in your lap and then, how could you not nap :-)
I really like the idea of napping. I don’t actually have any friends who nap, but I’m willing to bet if I did, they’d probably be all Zen-like and confident too!
My problem with naps is similar to yours. My body doesn’t quite get the concept of sleeping for only 25 minutes. I am very good at sleeping. I guess in a way, I “nap” every morning – I’m one of those people who can wake up, get the kids all ready for school or whatever, then toddle back to sleep for another blissful (and dream-filled) two or three hours.
My own ideal sleep rhythm is to go to bed at 2:00 am and get up at around 10:00 am, so yes, you could say I’m not quite as alert at 2 in the morning! I’m usually still waking up (I wake up slooooowly) at 2:00 pm though.
It’s like you hear in advertisements all the time these days: Whatever you need, there’s a nap for that!
Ummm, I took a nap (again) today :-) And if I administer coffee and chocolate upon waking, I’m good to go.
mmmm naps…mmmm
kid
Karen, A Wallace and Grommit bed – love that idea! And also it’ll put on my sweater and make my coffee and toast! Yay!
LLF, Couldn’t help picturing my lap with Lexi in it. Sleep would not be in the cards! You’re probably right about my bed…
Belle, I love how your biological clock ticks to a different drummer. (That sounded better in my head.) Waking up slowly… me too!
Tim, That tickled me. Thank you!
Jane, Coffee and chocolate? I think if I knew that was the reward for napping well, I’d do better.
Kid,
I come from a long family of non-napers. My son gave his up at 12 mos (yes you read that correctly) never to nap again. I can hardly sleep, let alone nap.
But thanks Jane for the coffee and chocolate idea as an afternoon pick-me-up!
Some days I think this insomnia of mine might drive me to insanity, but that’s another story…
Mairi, 12 months! That boggles my mind. I thought The Boy was bad when he stopped napping at three years. Poor you! I battle with insomnia occasionally. Sleep used to be one of my superpowers but not as much lately. Maybe you should email me in the middle of the night and I’ll bore you back to sleep. ;-)
I have a strategy for you to be able to get a nap, however, you may never want to awake ;-) See if you can get Sir Chad to join you for snuggle time and perhaps you’ll forget all about that clock. Imagine yourself like a kitty cat just blissfully not caring about anything in the world except your warm, cozy spot on the couch ;-)
I’m a champion napper. My wife can’t pull it off, though. My dad always claimed he was just “resting his eyes.”
Carey, That sounds wonderful… though I’m not sure it will enhance my performance or alertness… ;-)
Mark, I like the title champion napper. My competitive instinct is rising to your bait.