Nurses and other essential workers didn’t have the opportunity for extra naps in 2020 like some other groups that started working remotely.
And that’s a shame, because a 20-minute power nap “improves alertness — a finding consistent with centuries of human experience,” according to nurse researcher Karen Farmilo in the American Journal of Nursing. She described naps as “an underutilized strategy for staying sharp and engaged in the course of a shift” and recommended that administrators “promote 10 to 20 minute power naps.”
Even if work-sponsored naps are a remote possibility, short naps can be a very good thing.
According to 2019 research published in the journal Sleep, “There is a wealth of evidence that brief daytime naps of 10–20 minutes decrease subjective sleepiness, increase objective alertness, and improve cognitive performance.”
In addition, while most nurses are sleep-deprived on at least one occasion, nap benefits accrue even for those who are getting ample sleep. “Even in well-rested individuals, napping can enhance alertness, performance, and productivity for several hours,” the study added.
Naps help those who are spending time with their families or relaxing, too. They benefit your overall mind-body health, not just your work or study performance. “Daytime napping facilitates creative problem solving and logical reasoning, boosts the capacity for future learning, and consolidates memories,” the authors explained. “Daytime naps also allow for the regulation of emotions, relieve stress, and strengthen immune system function, reducing levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine and normalizing levels of interleukin-6 an immune-regulating molecule.”
So, sign you up for one per day, starting now, right? Here’s the catch. Certain naps are far more beneficial than others.
While intuition and pampering articles may have you thinking next level naps would involve bath salts or longer and longer sessions, the science indicates you’ll enhance the benefits by reconsidering timing, location and your attitude.
Follow these tips for next-level napping skills:
Succumb in the early afternoon. It’s so tempting to crash while dinner bakes or nod off in the car while someone else drives in the morning. But the most beneficial time to nap is when your body is already giving those cues. Your brain experiences a distinct change in the hypothalamus from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.