Why I’ll never give up my afternoon naps

When I was writing an article on power napping recently, I researched the health benefits of taking a brief afternoon snooze. To my astonishment, napping for just 10 minutes a day was said to be enough to boost creativity, alertness and productivity in the second half of the day.

I’ve always tended to avoid these little lunchtime siestas out of a fear they’d make me even more tired, put me in a bad mood and leave me unable to get back into the swing of the day. Now, however, I’m beginning to wonder whether I’ve been simply making a classic nap-related faux pas – sleeping for too long. Given my attempt to sleep at least eight hours every night for a previous edition of «I did it!» wasn’t exactly a roaring success, power napping might be able to remedy my chronic sleep deficit somewhat. So without further ado, let the napping begin!

Tiredness helps you power nap

Today’s the perfect day to start my «I did it!» week. As last night was long and restless, I’ve been dog-tired all day. When I’m overtired, the feeling usually continues until I can get a full night’s sleep (i.e. eight hours at night). Today, however, 10 minutes of shut-eye is supposed to do the trick. I’m curious to see if it’ll work.

Early in the afternoon, I make myself comfortable on the sofa bed, curl up under a blanket and set my alarm for ten minutes. As I’m tired after last night, I doze off pretty much immediately.

Day 1: napping’s a go, deep sleep’s a no

My biggest concern is still that I won’t be able to fully wake up again after my nap. However, as long as I avoid falling into the deep sleep phase, that shouldn’t be the case. You can’t reach that stage in ten minutes, so it doesn’t feel like much time has passed when I’m awoken by my phone beeping. With all my might, I suppress the urge to reset the alarm to give myself a little more sleep. Instead, with a little reluctance, I get up again after my allotted 10 minutes. Better not risk falling into a deep sleep.

Day 1 verdict I give myself a little time before sitting down in the evening to take stock of the day’s power-napping attempt. My conclusion? Extremely positive. My little nap really did make me more alert, and despite the long night, it was easier to get through the day. There wasn’t even any sign of my typical post-nap grumpiness. So far, so good. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Day 2: more «power» than «nap»

On the second day of my «I did it!» week, I feel the opposite of how I did yesterday: totally well-rested. By the time afternoon rolls around, I’m still not tired. While I’d ordinarily be really chuffed about this, it doesn’t exactly fit into my plan for today. When it’s time to take my little siesta, it’s all «power» and no «nap». Simply unable to settle down during the ten minutes, I get back up without catching a wink of sleep. And because I was so focused on dozing off, I couldn’t really use the time to relax either.

Day 2 verdict Here’s a ground-breaking discovery for you – power-napping isn’t worthwhile if you’re not tired. You can’t just force yourself to sleep.

Day 3: the nap is my salvation

Today’s my son’s first day at school after more than two weeks of vacation, so tiredness is guaranteed. Over the holidays, my rhythm shifted completely, so getting up this morning was tough going. My eyes have been drooping all morning. At least this means I have zero trouble napping. I curl up and doze off a few seconds later – at least halfway. Rather than being completely out of it, I’m in this interesting transitional state between sleep and wakefulness. When the ten minutes are up, it’s relatively easy to rouse myself. I also feel surprisingly refreshed. Definitely more energetic than before my power nap. Best of all, this lovely feeling lasts into the evening.

Day 3 verdict: On days when you’re super tired, an afternoon nap is worth its weight in gold!

Day 4: obstacles on the road to the land of nod

Today’s experiment is a little more complicated because I’m working in the office, not at home. Sure, I could book a meeting room and lie down on the sofa there. But I’ve got to admit that although I’m taking this nap for strictly professional reasons, I still don’t feel quite right about putting my feet up and going for a snooze next to my colleagues. So I go for the (no less strange-looking) no-frills version: arms on my desk, head on top.

To avoid being bombarded with questions from curious colleagues, I choose the lunch-hour time slot when most of them are out buying food. Even so, my power nap today is less fruitful than my previous ones. Unable to block out my surroundings, I simply wait for the time to be up. That’s pretty much how I expected things to go. Thank goodness I’ll be working from home tomorrow.

Day 4 verdict: It’s much easier to switch off if you know you won’t be disturbed. I personally think napping’s only good when you’re alone.

Day 5: this just gets better and better

Once again, I get less sleep than I would’ve liked. So when I get out of bed at half six in the morning, I’m already looking forward to my upcoming power nap. When the afternoon finally comes, I’ve been struggling to keep my sleepy eyes open for a while. I cannot wait to take a nap. At this point in my experiment, I’m an experienced napper. I snuggle up on the sofa, set my alarm and relax. I don’t quite fall asleep, but I do drift off a little before hearing my alarm.

Day 5 verdict: I’m genuinely thrilled without how today’s afternoon nap went. It worked seriously well. After those few minutes, I felt much more energetic and less tired. It’s everything I’d imagined a successful power nap would be.

Day 6: a pattern crystallises

I didn’t even come close to falling asleep today – I was just far too awake. However, this is starting to feel familiar to me. If I have a good power nap one day, I don’t feel particularly tired the next. It seems like one afternoon nap in two days does the trick. With this in mind, I’ll take today’s napping session to relax and still get a boost of energy for the rest of the day.

Day 6 verdict: Taking a nap every other day is enough.

Today, I gave a napping life hack a whirl. This involved holding an object in my hand so that if I fell into a deep sleep, I’d drop it and wake myself up from the sound of it hitting the floor. It didn’t work, but I wasn’t even close to falling asleep anyway. I might have to try it again on a day when I’m more likely to fall asleep. Or maybe not. After all, I noticed that holding on to the key stopped me from relaxing. It’s difficult to «let go» mentally when you’re so focused on not letting go of an object.

Day 7, 8, 9: power naps are here to stay

In keeping with my newly discovered pattern, today’s power nap proves to be yet another success. With that, I’ve decided I’m going to continue my nap routine. In the few days that I’ve been a power napper, taking mini siestas has almost become a habit – and I don’t want to go back to life without it. So in the next few days, I treat myself to the occasional little nap whenever possible. If I’m not tired at all, I skip a day. On the other days, however, it’s always time well spent.

Overall verdict: I’m now a regular power napper

As my «I did it!» week draws to a close, I come to a clear conclusion. Taking a quick afternoon nap pays off in numerous ways, and it’s now become (pretty much) routine for me. Here’s why:

• Taking a short break relaxes me and leaves me more alert, even-tempered and energetic for the rest of the day.
• I’m able to find 10 minutes (almost) every day to nap – and it’s more than enough time. I don’t need to do any preparation or follow-up.
• Getting up in the morning is much easier because I know I’ve got a nap in store for me at lunchtime.
• Even if I drift off when I’m not tired, the ten minutes make for a lovely break.

My fear that having a little rest would make me all the more tired turned out to be unfounded. While the power nap can’t replace getting eight hours of sleep at night, post-nap me doesn’t feel as zombie-like as pre-nap me. And it puts me in a better mood.

What’s your take on afternoon napping? Does it work for you? Or do you avoid napping because you have the same concerns I used to?

While we’re on the topic of sleep, if you sometimes find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, here are a few tips that might help:

And here are some previous instalments of my «I did it!» series: