How to Master Napping

I've never been a big napper. My whole life, I've lived by the idea that you should just stick to the sleep you get at night - I thought sleeping during the day would mess up your body more than it would help you get energy. I would also get super disoriented after waking up from a nap and would be in a weird mood for the rest of the day (anyone know what I'm talking about?!). Recently, though, I got really sick and physically couldn't get through the day without taking a little nap. I felt so guilty laying down for an hour with everything I had to get done, but it was insane how much better I felt after just sixty minutes of rest. Now, if I'm ever tired and have even 45 minutes free, I'll take a quick nap to refresh my mind! It's seriously the best thing ever (I just have to be careful to not take too many and get too used to sleeping in the middle of the day :).

I came across this article about napping the other day and thought I would share some different amounts of time you should sleep depending on what you have going on. I try to limit myself to an hour, but apparently even 10 minutes can be enough to energize you!

*via

+ The Power Nap: 10-20 minutes

This one is the best amount of time to sleep if you want to get right back to work. 

+ The Nasa Nap: 26 minutes

These 26 minutes are proven to improve pilot performance and alertness by 54%. It's best for a day when you know you'll be working late. 

+ The Slow Wave Sleep Nap: 1 hour

60 minutes is the perfect amount of time to help your memory recall places, faces, facts, etc. If you have a big presentation, this is the one to do! 

+ The Full Sleep Cycle Nap: 90 minutes 

Helps creativity, emotional memory and procedural memory. This nap is best before an exam or project you have to work on.

Another fun fact is that it's best to nap between 1:00 and 4:00, dim the lights and sleep in a room that is between 60 and 70 degrees. 

Are you a big napper? 

xoxo