Here's Why Afternoon Naps Are Actually A Sign Of Health, Not Laziness

Oct 18, 2018

Many people find it difficult to get through the day without a nap. Naps can help refresh your system. It should be noted, however, that if you feel like you're truly napping more than a person should, it's important to consult a doctor to get their medical opinion.

Many people have regular naps, but you may feel like you never meet anyone else who also needs them. It's common to feel guilty, like your drowsiness is to blame for laziness. It's also common to wonder if there's a problem with your diet and exercise.

In a lot of cases, people feel guilty about their naps because they believe that naps are for children. Shouldn't adults grow out of napping? That doesn't seem to make much sense when you consider that a great deal of elderly people take naps through their day. In fact, research can support the need to nap.

Energy levels lower in the early portion of the afternoon. Because of this, the National Sleep Foundation has made a recommendation that people have a twenty or thirty minute nap to improve their performance and restore alertness. According to this research, naps of this short length won't affect nighttime sleep or make us feel drowsy.

The foundation has laid out three main types of nap.

Planned napping is when you dedicate time to have a nap instead of waiting until you're too tired to avoid napping.

Emergency napping is when you become overwhelmingly tired all of a sudden, and therefore can't keep doing whatever activity you were doing.

Habitual napping is when you nap at about the same time of day each day.

Some people's nap styles are a combination of different types of these. For example, you might combine habitual and emergency if you have trouble with forcing sleep.

But this might not be the best idea. Research indicates that for naps to have the most benefit possible, it's important to make your circadian rhythm stable. Circadian rhythms refer to your body's internal sleeping and waking clock. For a stable rhythm, you'll need to nap at about the same time every day.

When you keep your circadian rhythm stable, you can regulate your immune system, metabolism, body temperature, and hormone levels. It also lets you sleep more deeply and soundly throughout the night.

Different people feel their energy levels wane and wax at different parts of the day. As a general rule, though, most people's energy levels dip between 1 PM and 3 PM. This indicates that optimum daytime nap time is right after you eat lunch. If you schedule a nap this way, you also won't sleep too late in the day, which will keep your nighttime sleep from being impacted.

The goal of daytime napping is to reboot your system and help you feel rejuvenated and relaxed, instead of disoriented and exhausted. If you don't find yourself feeling refreshed and alert after your nap, that's a sign you may be doing it wrong.

• Set an alarm with a gentle tone to wake you up.

• Either lie down in a comfortable spot or find yourself a comfortable chair to recline in. Make sure it's a spot where nobody will disturb you.

Another way to help ensure your circadian rhythm stays balanced is by waking up at around the same time every day. Go outdoors in the early morning to absorb the sunlight. This can help you awaken and refresh both your body and mind.

When you first try to reset your body clock, you might need up to 30 days for adjustment. People new to napping may experience feelings of jet lag for the first few weeks. This will stop as the mind and body adjust to the new sleep pattern.

Other research indicates that consuming coffee during the course of your work day will help to keep sleepiness away. Combine this with napping before work, and you've come up with an effective way to remain awake and alert.

NASA has even done research that supports napping. The study was done on astronauts and military pilots. It was discovered that taking a 40-minute nap helped improve performance each day by 34 percent while increasing alertness by a whopping 100 percent. In addition, people who took naps had fewer accidents and made fewer mistakes.

In another study, it was shown that lack of sleep might make people feel emotionally blocked or more emotionally reactive. Lack of sleep also skews judgment and impairs speech, leading to poor overall functioning and performance. People who lack sleep might experience struggles to process their emotions.

When people have regular sleep patterns and are not deprived of sleep, they tend to experience more emotional stability and balance. Overall, you're more likely to feel calm and rational, have a heightened sense of perception, and have your general health enhanced.

Daytime naps keep people from experiencing burned out feelings, especially if they're dealing with a busy or stressful period. It's helpful to slow ourselves down in order to let our body and mind re-calibrate and rest for short periods of time. You might think that taking naps is a waste of time, but doing this will actually save you time, as your productivity will increase.

Different studies have shown a variety of different results regarding the length of nap time that's best. Some people operate sufficiently with just a 10-minute-nap, while others need the full 30 minutes. Different people need different things, so you should experiment a little to find out what nap time works best for you.

Do you ever have an afternoon nap? Do you find that it helps? Let us know in the comments and show this to a friend or family member who's chronically tired!

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!