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So being the "delinquent" high school student that I am I often find myself going to sleep later than I plan to on school nights, and this leads to me being at least somewhat tired, sometimes during school. So while I'm there at school thinking "oof, I'll take a nap when I go home" it all sounds well and good, but I come home and rationalize to myself: "Don't bother with a nap, think of these cool things you could do instead, like read, do your homework, ...good off" and often end up not taking a nap, then hopefully I go to bed at a better time than before.
I've read things that say people who tend to take naps are generally happier, healthier etc etc. whether it's because they're the sort of person who takes naps (relaxed lifestyle?) or because the naps themselves are healthy and such, and I do enjoy naps, but I also feel a little guilty or lazy for going to sleep in the middle of the day.
So what are your opinions of naps? How often do you partake in said nappage? Do you suffer the same bittersweet relationship with them that I do?
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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If I don't get 8 hours of sleep a night you can bet money that I'll be taking a nap after I get out of one of my classes. I'd say I nap 4 or 5 days a week. I don't feel guilty though, because if I'm tired enough to fall asleep it likely means that I need the extra sleep. I was an awful high school student last year, I slept through so many classes because I would stay up so late. But I also never took naps after the school day in high school.
So all in all, I don't think they're bad at all. I probably need the extra sleep.
Posts: 106 | Registered: Nov 2007
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I love naps, when I can get them. Weekends, usually. Certainly not when driving or teaching class.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Edison and Einstein were notorious for greatly shortening or skipping that "8hours of sleep" recommended by so many... ...and for being prodigious nappers who could fall asleep anytime and anywhere, then wake up refreshed after ~20minutes.
The moral being: If you can't sleep enough in one stretch, make sure that you nap.....a lot.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I feel best when I get 7 hours of sleep at night and 1 in the afternoon. Even 8+ hours at night isn't quite as good as that.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I wish I could take a nap. If I do that I'll feel lazy because I should be looking for a job. But I'm exausted. I stay up until 2am or later and wake up at 7 so I don't feel like a sloth.
Now on the weekend, I can sleep for a good couple of hours sometimes, or less and just relax.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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My baby has this amazing skill to wake up from her nap the moment I fall asleep. Once I put her down, I have to do all those things that she makes it impossible to do, so I can't go to sleep at the same time as her.
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Naps are great! For most of my teen/adult life, naps weren't helpful to me unless I slept 1.5-2 hours (less than that and I'd wake up more tired and groggy than when I went to sleep), but that probably has something to do with my being a very light sleeper. I could usually only nap on the weekends, because I'd have to nap early in the afternoon to not interfere with my sleep at night.
After having my first baby, my sleeping has changed a great deal. For the first month or so, I'd often take at least 1-2 naps during the day (while my baby slept) to make up for sleep I'd miss staying up at night with her. Now that's she's older and sleeping better, I maybe take a couple naps a week when I'm extra tired. I fall asleep much faster and stay asleep easier than I used to (but I still wake up quickly to my baby being restless) so shorter naps are actually helpful now.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Ah I took a nap earlier, and it was quite terrific. I had a really weird dream though, I was at some presentation in the audience and I felt all of a sudden that my vision was sort of zooming out, and, sort of out-of-body feeling. I was passing out in my dream, and I was really confused as to why I would be passing out, until I realized it was a dream and thought "oh, well at least nothing is actually wrong with me." It was really bizarre... and memorable, I always like remembering my dreams. It's nifty
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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Naps are a blessing and a curse to me. I love naps because they refresh me and make me a happy person at night. But I can't just sleep for 20 minutes. When I take a nap, it's for usually a 2 hour period. Also, if I take naps during the day, I end up not being able to get to sleep until about 5 am. Then, when I wake up early, I feel the need to take a nap again, which just starts the cycle all over again. It's a horrible, vicious cycle. Naps are amazing, when done in moderation. Too much and your entire sleep schedule gets off. It's not pretty. Also, napping towards the end of the day is not a good thing. It just makes getting to sleep earlier even harder. I would suggest try to skip the nap. Maybe take one every once in a while, but definitely not every day. I've done that, and after a while, it just gets ugly. Literally, there have been days when I woke up at 2 pm, took a nap at 5 , then went to bed at 8 am. You don't want to get in that cycle, trust me.
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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If I take a nap I won't be able to sleep that night at my usual time. So it ends up doing more harm than good.
Posts: 1287 | Registered: Apr 2006
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In my job I often finish an assignment early, but since I can't go back to the field office until a set time, I'll often sit in my car and take a nap. Some of the most satisfying naps I've taken have been in my car.
My problem with naps is that even when I'm tired, if I actually plan a nap it takes me a good 30 minutes to fall into even a light sleep, and I generally don't want to spend more than an hour napping. I find the best naps to be the ones that just sort of creep up on you. Like when I'm sitting in a comfortable armchair with the sun shining on me through the window, watching tv, and the next thing I know I'm waking up 20 minutes later, feeling happy and refreshed.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'm very bad at taking naps. They usually end up lasting far longer than I first intended. The underlying reason is that I can't generally bring myself to get out of bed without an obligation or some voluntary activity that I value more than sleep. Thing is, in the grogginess after a nap, NOTHING seems more valuable than MORE SLEEP. As such, I tend to sleep the day away and mess up my entire sleep schedule.
Like Fitz above though, I did once have a thing for napping in my car on breaks at certain jobs. Namely the ones that gave me more than 30 minutes for a break. The obligation to get back to work mixed with the less-than-bed comfort of my driver's seat was sufficient to keep the naps brief. I only overslept once or twice, and not by much on those occasions.
Posts: 636 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I survive on the Power Nap. This is about a fifteen to twenty minute nap where I go "under," just barely, but am still conscious of what is happening around me. I feel refreshed afterwards.
I have a friend who goes to his car for a power nap during his lunch break.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I wish I could have taken those at work. It was so hard for me to stay awake at work. I'd have to drink coffee, but that would flare up my IBS so I'd have to drink several cups of Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea. Didn't always work. it's so hard to go to bed at a normal time. Every country in the world gets to take a little nap, but do we do that? No. Instead I must try not to fall into a deep 5 minute sleep. I've had this problem since before high school. I'd fall asleep all through Japanese class, and it was a small class. I'd snooze through math and I didn't want to do any of those stuff.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I never (as in even at 2) napped until this semester. It's the only thing keeping me going right now though. I'm pretending I just don't like the weather, but yes i have a full physical scheduled for April.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Power naps are wonderful things. I will periodically crawl under my desk at work, use my coat as a pillow and to block out light (yay for hoods), put my earbuds in to block sound, and set the alarm on my cellphone to vibrate to wake me back up in 30 minutes. Then I'll eat my lunch after rising.
If I've had a really bad night's sleep, I'll doze on the inbound train. I detrain at the end of the line so there's no chance of my missing my stop, and the annoying conductor announcements are guaranteed to wake me even if I fall deep asleep, which hasn't happened yet. That'll get me almost an hour's nap.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I used to take power naps between classes in school. I'd curl up in the comfy chair in the study cubicle, set my watch for 15 minutes before my next class and get a good 30 - 45 minutes in. I'd wake up so much happier.
Right now, I'm in the habit of coming home from teaching school, laying flat on my bed and sleeping (about 30 minutes) until the supper bell rings. It feels so nice and I get so much more accomplished after prayer and supper when I do that.
Posts: 340 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Wow, maybe it's just the nappers are posting here, but I'm surprised to see how often everyone takes naps.
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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I try to take one on Saturdays and Sundays when the youngest is taking his, but I inevitably get woken up from that first doze by the older kids. Or the phone rings. Or someone knocks on the door. Something always wakes me up before I fall asleep completely, and after that there's no chance I'll fall back asleep unless I have another hour or so to lay there. Which makes me grumpy. It's been a long time since I had a satisfying nap.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I'm a non-napper here. If I ever do nap, its usually because I'm coming down with some sort of illness.
I don't know why, but when I nap I wake up exhausted. I just want to roll over and go back to sleep. If I'm going to sleep, I prefer to REALLY sleep.
My boyfriend, however, is a napper. I can understand it because he gets up really early for his teaching job but even on a weekend, I'll catch him taking little catnaps during the day.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I have a 2.5 hour break between classes. I used to try to sleep some, that's been cut down. By the time I eat lunch and get back to my apartment, I'm wide awake, no matter how tired I was before. So I usually spend this time either showering, or playing video games or doing homework, depending on the day.
I should take more naps.....
Posts: 349 | Registered: Oct 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Goody Scrivener: I will periodically crawl under my desk at work, use my coat as a pillow and to block out light (yay for hoods), put my earbuds in to block sound, and set the alarm on my cellphone to vibrate to wake me back up in 30 minutes.
That sounds like a lot of work!
I just go sit out in my car during lunch hour, and drift right off. (I've never had trouble falling asleep though -- and do it better in light than I do in darkness)
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Haha that looks so... futuristic. I guess it's comfortable laying like that, or it wouldn't be like that, but it certainly seems bizarre...
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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I've never been a big one to have my feet up. It almost makes me feel like I'm upside down. But I suppose that they know what they're doing. And by they I mean both Google and the people who designed that pod.
Posts: 349 | Registered: Oct 2007
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Naps keep me sane when I'm having problems with insomnia. I know everyone says they will make the situation worse and that I should just stay up all day, but I mean, I just don't have that kind of endurance. Plus, I'd rather get 2-3 hours napping in the afternoon than zero hours because I got so hung up on having to wait until night to sleep, and then when it finally was night I found that I couldn't sleep anyway.
posted
I had a pretty messed up sleep schedule in school, but there were lots of classes I used to miss 'cause I simply didn't care about them. I used to take naps at the time too, but I still wasn't in top shape all day.
Since I started working I'm trying to keep a normal (8+ hours a night) and regular sleeping schedule. Even if I sometimes fall out of schedule and take short (30 mins) naps around 1PM it's still the normal night sleep that works best for me. I know the feeling that there are so many things to do beside sleeping, but I find I'm more efficient in the time I'm awake if I slept properly before anyway. It's not the amount of time you stay awake that matters, it's what you do in that time.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Goody Scrivener: I will periodically crawl under my desk at work, use my coat as a pillow and to block out light (yay for hoods), put my earbuds in to block sound, and set the alarm on my cellphone to vibrate to wake me back up in 30 minutes.
That sounds like a lot of work!
Trust me, it took longer to type it out than it does to do it. Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I'm another one who feels lousy after a nap, back when I used to take them.
When I'm pregnant, if I'm not working, I feel lousy all the time anyway, so I might as well nap. I do this other times when I'm sleep deprived or crabby, like if I'm fasting.
I do think that the frequency and relative benefit from naps is a matter of individual constitution, sort of like whether or not milk makes you feel better or worse, and what temperature you like your drinks at and whether your arms and belly gain fat in proportion to your hips.
I feel like napping right now, I'll tell you what. Not much chance of that happening - though my workplace is more conducive than most. I've totally caught my one co-worker napping when the boss is out of town (though not the co-worker I have currently).
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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If recent studies about teenagers and sleep are valid, most high school students might do better if they were offered "nap time" as an alternative to Gym.
Of course that might increase the obesity problem, but there are trade offs to every choice.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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I always find it shocking that I can be reading my book, fall into a nap for 20 minutes, then wake up and have no inkling to fall asleep whatsoever for another 6 hours. Craziness
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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I hate napping. Whenever I do (and I seem to be in the minority) I wake up utterly wasted, even if I wasn't particularly tired beforehand. It's an odd feeling. I just feel strangely drained if I nap for about 20 minutes to 1 and 1/2 hours or so. And then in all likelihood I can't fall asleep that night. Heh.
So if I don't get enough sleep during the night I'm pretty much better off staying awake during the day, and trying to get more sleep the next night. (Of course if I only get a couple hours of sleep things are different.)
Of course, I generally get a good amount of sleep. Except on weekends, where I might stay awake pretty late. But I also literally can't sleep in. 8:00 is usually the latest I make it, and it's usually earlier. I almost inevitably have to go to the bathroom around 7:00, and after doing that I'm pretty much awake (even if I'm tired) and can't fall back asleep. I've noticed that going to the bathroom is surprisingly the very best way to wake me up. If I have to wake up exceptionally early I always go to the bathroom immediately, even if I'm thinking in the back of my mind about setting the alarm clock later. I'll be awake by the time I'm done.
Er...yeah, probably too much info.
Posts: 290 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Sometimes I nap and sometimes I don't. Napping always makes me feel really warm all over, and I have super-vivid, memorable dreams. When I was in high school, I would fall asleep lying on my stomach on the couch with the TV my brothers were watching playing very loudly. But when I was in high school, I usually slept about two hours in the evening and between about 4 am and 5 am. When my car was broken and I had to share a ride, I'd sleep in the car while waiting for work to start and while waiting for my friend to get off work. It didn't mess up my sleep-cycle, but it did make me feel totally limp even after I woke up. I nap sometimes now, but more often when I have a day off. Sometimes reading a vivid fantasy novel for five minutes at work can feel like having taken a really good nap.
Posts: 1751 | Registered: Jun 1999
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If I haven't gotten enough sleep the night before and I have time in the afternoon, I'll nap for perhaps an hour or so, and I'm caught back up. It's marvelous, actually. However, I try not to do it every day. If I sleep too much then I end up being more tired than if I slept less. Plus, several days in the week I have to go right from class to work, so I don't have the chance to sleep. I never used to be able to nap, but college teaches you all sorts of great things. Posts: 52 | Registered: Sep 2007
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When I'm anemic (I was anemic all the time for the first 35 years of my life (long story)), I needed to nap every afternoon and sometime I'd sneak in another nap on the couch in the evening. Now that I'm not anemic, I rarely ever feel like napping.
Its pretty consistent. If I start needing an afternoon nap (or craving eating bizarre mineral substances), I know I'm getting anemic.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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