POWER NAPPING: SOME HANDY TIPS

Power napping is an art. And art can be viewed in many different ways. Therefore I don’t blame you if you think this is utter rubbish. To each his own.

Personally I believe power napping has helped me a lot over the past year or so. I feel a short nap in the middle of the day increases my productivity. Particularly when I manage to reach the REM stage, which can be difficult in such a short timespan. Still, my brain shuts off for a while because the atmosphere in my house changes (I close the blinds, switch off the sound on my laptop and my mobile, and I snuggle up on the sofa). Also remember that while you sleep, you give your muscles a chance to relax, which can relieve tension headaches fairly quickly (believe it or not, I’ve cut down on the Syndol!). In a nutshell, power naps have improved my quality of life and dare I say, also the quality of my work.

It all started when I was browsing some random website about corporate culture in Japan, where power napping is not frowned upon. On the contrary, companies even create special “napping nooks” for their staff or they allow workers to sleep at their desks. How cool is that?! So I thought, “OK, my lunch break’s coming up. Let’s give this a try.” I was instantly hooked.

The first time I tried it, I was lucky I think, because I was so exhausted that I instantly fell asleep. The following day it proved to be a little harder. Your body has to get used to falling asleep quickly and waking up soon after. After all, a power nap typically lasts about twenty minutes. On average, depending on how busy I am of course, I have power naps twice a week, during my lunch break. These are my tips (as in yesterday’s post, I’d like to point out that I’m not a health professional, these are just my personal guidelines, I can’t guarantee they’ll work for you):

1)   Drink coffee – it sounds contradictory, but caffeine kicks in after twenty minutes, so by the time you wake up, the caffeine will have given you a bit of a boost.

2)   Don’t power nap in bed. You associate your bed(room) with deep sleep, so it’s better to choose a different location: try having a nap on the sofa or on an armchair in the living room, or why not, even at your desk.

3)   Darkness and silence are key – eliminate all potential distractions: light of course, but also phones, computers, even ticking clocks can stimulate your alertness.

4)   Remove your watch – set your alarm clock, but remove your watch. Make sure you can’t check the time, because if you do, I guarantee you’ll start counting the minutes and your brain will just respond by thinking “Never mind, it’s not worth it anymore”.

5)   Relaxing music can help, or even a white noise machine. Any repetitive soothing sound (cat purring, air conditioning, air purifier etc.) can induce sleep.

6)   Incense or aromatherapy candles (careful not to burn the house down though! I don’t personally leave candles on while I’m asleep…) can set the right mood. Vanilla is a classic, but any pleasant scent will do. Why not vary according to the seasons? Cinnamon in winter. Rose in spring. Citrus in summer. And I’m not sure about autumn; it’s like the odd one out, isn’t it?

7)   Don’t give up.  It might take weeks or even months for you to get used to this new way of working, but once you’re comfortable with it, you’ll see results fast!

Power to the people (who power nap)!

(Sweet?) dreams are made of this

Gizmo - he can sleep anywhere, anytime

In tomorrow’s post I will share my thoughts on power naps, and I will give you some tips to help you develop your own technique. But before I delve into the subject of napping and its effect on productivity, I think it’s important to have a closer look at dreams and their function. Disclaimer: I’m not a scientist, so don’t quote me on any of this, but it’s a topic that fascinates me – I’ll explain why in a minute – or less if you’re a fast reader.

It’s common knowledge that dreams occur in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase – or simply put in deep sleep. It is thought that dreams are the brain’s method of processing all the information it came across during wakefulness. Many people don’t remember their dreams, but most – if not all – of us, do actually dream, with each dream lasting up to forty-five minutes.

I became obsessed with the subject of dreaming a few years ago, when I had a frightening, but apparently very common, experience, which has since repeated itself. I was sound asleep one night, when I was suddenly awakened by something (someone?) pressing on my chest. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My muscles seemed paralysed. I could move my eyes, but that was it. The atmosphere in my room felt threatening and in the corner of my eye I could see a presence. I remember thinking “This is an evil spirit”. I must have fallen asleep soon after, because that’s the last thing I remember. The next morning I was convinced I had had a glimpse of the afterlife or something of the sort. I really thought I had died and come back to life (how dramatic, I know). For fear of being ridiculed, I only told hubby-to-be, who of course thought I had lost it.

Years later I accidentally came across a website about sleep patterns, and particularly about a condition called “sleep paralysis”, where you wake up during the REM phase and the effect of the hormone that paralyses your muscles during sleep to prevent you from acting out your dreams (don’t ask me what it’s called) has not worn off. As a result you find yourself between a dream-like state and conscious awareness. By the way, scientists believe that so-called “UFO abductions” are probably nothing more than an episode of sleep paralysis. What triggers this condition? Most probably stress, the plague of our time.

Why this post? Because I want to warn everyone – whether you work from home, in an office, in a factory or even from your hammock – that stress is far more dangerous than you think. It does things to your body that you can’t even imagine. It disrupts your body’s balance, your perception of the world and even your subconscious mind. So keep stress at bay (I will go into this in another post) and never underestimate the importance of relaxation and sleep. Sweet dreams (damn, the day has only just started)!