Boost Your Productivity By Taking a Nap
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When Sara Mednick was a grad student, she was putting in 15-hour days filled with papers, exams, helping faculty members and teaching undergraduate courses. She was fighting sleep deprivation and her weapon of choice was espresso. Then she took a nap.
Her first nap was a revelation for both her personal well-being and the subject of her doctoral thesis. Among her results, she found learning after a nap is equal to learning after a full night of sleep and test scores of those who hadn’t napped deteriorated through the day.
It makes perfect sense. We are biologically programmed to nap, but modern society doesn’t allow it to play out. The result is we are tired, making more errors and scanning gossip sites instead of increasing our company’s bottom line.
Here are some napping tips from Sara’s book, Take a Nap! Change Your Life: The Scientific Plan to Make You Smarter, Healthier, More Productive
- Remove “nap blockers,” meaning those items associated with work, i.e. a doctor’s stethoscope, a handyman’s tool belt or a student’s textbooks.
- Create a safe nap location. For example, if you are napping in your car make sure the parking lot is secure, and during the summer keep your windows cracked.
- Silence beepers, cellphones and other electronic devices and put your computer into sleep mode. Noise-cancelling devices and ear plugs are also handy for creating a quiet sleeping environment.
- Light inhibits the production of melatonin (the hormone that acts upon the hypothalamus, which causes the brain to switch to sleep mode) and that is why it’s easier to fall asleep in the dark. If it’s not possible to block out light, invest in a sleepmask that covers your eyes.
- Our bodies associate sleep with lying down, but if you can’t find a place to fully recline, at least lean back and make sure your head and limbs are well supported so your body can maintain position as it relaxes. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself doing the head-bob. A yoga mat and a light blanket are also helpful napping tools.
- Lay off the caffeine and nicotine, and watch out for drugs such as those for the common cold containing ephedra.
- And be patient. Napping takes practice, so don’t lose hope the first few times you have trouble falling asleep.
I have some, uh… research to do. Don’t open my door for the next 30 minutes.
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Napping is a great tool, and fun to use! I wrote about this last year and was particularly intrigued to discover that nano and micro napping are also beneficial. Just drifting off for a minute or less can really reinvigorate you.