When a Tuesday feels like a Monday your body can feel all sorts of confusion. Or time can simply just drag on or sometimes get away too quickly. Your checklist starts to look more unchecked and your ability to get a full eight hours of sleep easily starts to narrow without notice–burning a candle from both ends never ends well. Instead of all of a sudden feeling completely burnt out or even feeling a bit ‘drunk’ during the day from total exhaustion, you need to pencil in your calendar 15-minute naps. Yes, 15–slide over 20-minute power naps, we are here to make napping even shorter and just as efficient.
Sara C. Mednick, psychologist and author of Take a Nap, Change Your Life.
“One of the ways that napping helps is that it allows you to catch up on some desperately needed sleep. But there’s also a large research body that shows even in well-rested adults, naps are very helpful for increasing cognition, particularly memory.”
Some of the information you take in each day, can only be processed while you sleep, explains Mednick. If you’re looking to have just a pick-me-up, a 15-minute nap at any time is going to do your body wonders. A lot of bosses may not be onboard with the power of a nap so you may need to escape somewhere else for your 15-minutes of glory. Remember that sleep in hindered by light. Grab your jacket or an eye mask, silence your phone and get snoozing. Even if you don’t think you can fall asleep that quickly, the power of your brain trying to take your body to that place is a win in itself.
Now go do it, create a naptime ritual by going somewhere you feel safe and set an alarm.
