How to Nap: The power of an afternoon nap
Ah the power nap! I’ll never forget one of my friends in college, who was pre-med told me about the power nap. I was at his apartment one day and we were making plans to do something so he was looking at his very structured schedule. I recall thinking how weird it was that this cute college guy had a color coded calendar and right in the middle of the day he blocked off for NAP (and it was blocked in red!!)
I never forgot that power nap and the statistics related to how good it was for you. I don’t remember those stats now but I implemented my power naps starting when I had littles. When I put them down for a nap, I took “my twenty minutes”. And had energy for the rest of my afternoon with active toddlers. My toddlers are now all grown up and in college but I still implement the power nap.
The 3 pm slump
Around 3 pm, coffee shops everywhere fill up with people needing that pick-me-up for the rest of the day and I always hear people mentioning they hit a wall at 3 every day. I have always worked from home so being able to nap in the middle of the day is an option.
First of all you may be saying to yourself. I’m on my grind, I have to work, taking a nap is lazy. To that I say, sister, please rest. The world will continue to turn and when you get up from your power nap you will be ready to take on the rest of the day with way more energy than you would if you “powered through”.
Instead of filling your body with extra caffeine, that it doesn’t need, why not fill it with rest? It helps with creativity, memory, cognitive skills and energy level. Basically it’s a magic pill that will get you through the rest of the day.
The middle-of-the-day power nap
In the middle of each day, I “take my twenty minutes”. I close my computer, move to the couch and I set an alarm for 22 minutes (give me time to settle) and I close my eyes. I rarely get into bed because a deep sleep is not what I’m after. I simply need 20 minutes on the couch to close my eyes, drift off a little bit and remove myself from the work I’ve been doing. I always find that I am refreshed after my 20 minutes and I’m ready to tackle the rest of my to-do list.
Now that I am on the road and exploring new areas, I find it especially important to take a power nap because after I am done working for the day I want to have the energy to explore the area or head out to dinner or for a long walk.