National Napping Day - March 15th

Today - on March 15th it's National Napping Day - that's why I like to share with you my thoughts of napping and to give oneself a treat - for mental health.

I love napping. 

I’ve been known to fall asleep on a jerking, lurching subway trains, sailing boats ... all over the world. I once slept through the clanging bells of a church . My greatest pleasure is laying in the grass or on a park bench until I’m asleep like a very contented baby.

Napping whenever I want to is one of the great pleasures of freedom - and of flexible work days or environment.

I have and enjoy different kinds of  naps:

• Appetitive naps - my favorite by the way - just for the sheer joy of it!
• Recovery naps (for lost sleep)
• Prophylactic naps, taken when you anticipate losing sleep, prepare you for a late night out - or as preparation for a challenging meeting.

Why I enjoy naps?

Well, I see my naps as extremely beneficial for my 'thinking' because on the one hand my brain is ‘offline' from daily things, a kind of 'flatline' , on the other hand I most often start dreaming quite fast. And as I can most often can manage what I like to dream - I enjoy this even more.

After a nap I feel 'alive' as it increases my energy.. Naps lower stress and help to regulate mood, reducing anxiety and depression and inducing relaxation. And what I as a designer and creative person love most, naps enhance creativity, increase productivity, boost problem-solving abilities and improve many cognitive abilities.

Researchers and scientists found that people who napped for 30 to 90 minutes had better word recall – which is a sign of good memory – than people who did not nap or who napped for longer than 90 minutes. People who napped for that golden 30 to 90 minutes were also better at figure drawing, another sign of good cognition.  Overall, studies show that people who sleep too much or too little may have poor health and even a shorter life span. Consequently, my suggestion is everyone should find their balance - people need to get the right quantity and quality of rest for themselves.

My suggestions to take a nap

To make sure your naps give you the greatest benefit they can, it can help to keep in mind how long your naps last and what time of day you take them and this is a learning curve - and give yourself time to find it out. You may also wish to experiment with different types of naps.

First of all I always set an alarm and choose the right time to nap

Napping for the right amount of time can help ensure that you boost your alertness without feeling too drowsy or drugged with sleep at the end. Taking a short nap can help you avoid sleep inertia. I most often set my alarm to go off 15 to 30 minutes after I fall asleep - that will help you that you are more likely to wake up at the right time for yourself.Side note - based on my experience and what I learn from studies -  long naps may cause you to wake up feeling disoriented, they may offer more lasting benefits once the effects of sleep inertia wear off. However, long naps reduce the need for sleep, which can make it harder to fall asleep at night. 

If you take a long nap, make sure you give yourself some time for the drowsiness to wear off before carrying out important duties.