If you’re looking for an afternoon pick-me-up, the answer is probably a nap, rather than a caramel latte. Sleep researcher Matthew Walker puts this in terms that will be familiar to ProfHacker readers:
“It’s as though the e-mail inbox in your hippocampus is full and, until you sleep and clear out those fact e-mails, you’re not going to receive any more mail. It’s just going to bounce until you sleep and move it into another folder,” Walker said in a release.
Of course, the ProfHacker-endorsed best e-mail practices are fewer e-mail folders, and deleting as much as humanly possible, but Walker’s point remains: if you’re doing lots of brain-work during the day, a nap is a good thing. (Natalie’s one minute-refresh strategy is based on a similar idea.)
Walker’s research is based on the cognitive benefits of a 90-minute nap. Now, you might not have time in your afternoon for that, but researchers at the journal Sleep have good news: “the 10-minute nap was overall the most effective afternoon nap duration” (of 5, 10, 20, and 30 minute naps.) Basically, 5 minutes was too short a span for any real benefits. 10, 20, and 30 minute naps all had lasting benefits for the afternoon, but the 20 and 30 minute lengths were also associated with “sleep inertia,” where it took a half-hour or so to wake up.
This probably doesn’t include falling-asleep time. Like all parents of young children, I can fall asleep on-demand, at any hour, no matter how much caffeine I’ve had, which I think means that I could sneak in a nap between classes. Probably right there in the hall. Seriously, though–10 minutes is often less time than it takes to even get the coffee in the first place, especially if you prefer the fancy drinks.
This Boston Globe poster on napping is pretty cool. And, if you’re the sort who thinks that all ProfHacker posts should come with a technological solution, then let me point you to Pzizz, which will optimize your napping regimen.
(The Sleep and USA Today articles originally seen here.)
Image by Flickr user Tambako the Jaguar / Creative Commons licensed
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6 Responses to Napping Your Way Through the Semester
Julie Meloni - March 1, 2010 at 2:14 pm
I am such a huge fan of napping that words cannot do it justice. I’m sure part of it has to do with my crazed wake-up time (4am), but when 2pm rolls around I am not ashamed to take a nap for 15-30 minutes.
This is a problem, of course, in that I teach on T/Th until 2:40 and then drive for 2.5 hours, but alas….5 out of 7 days ain’t bad!
Billie - March 1, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Excellent advice, Jason! I love naps. They often help me just clear my head when I’m overwhelmed (well, napping, clearing off my desk, and getting some exercise). I’ve been known to shut the door and crawl under my desk for a quick 10-15 rest. I have a pillow down there just for that purpose. :-)
Jana - March 1, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I’ve been known to nap on park benches around campus in the afternoon. Or on my couch, if I’m working from home. :)
Somewhere I read a study that the best time to take a 10-minute nap is right after drinking a cup of coffee (before the buzz hits) because you’ll wake up very refreshed & rady to work (instead of groggy). I’ve tried this a few times and it does seem to work.
Drew - March 1, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I do not feel that I can take a nap if I have less than 3 hours and most often I wake up after a nap feeling like I got hit by a truck. Anybody else have similar experience?
Knitting Clio - March 2, 2010 at 7:44 am
Naps are fine if you don’t have problems with sleeping at night. In general, thought, it’s better to have a regular night-time sleep schedule.
LibrarianGoddess - March 2, 2010 at 8:33 am
Jana, do you realise how beautiful you’ve made my life by allowing me to combine my two favourite things – sleep and coffee? :)