Since arriving to college in the end of summer, I have noticed a change in my sleeping cycle. I have been taking naps more frequently and achieving less hours of sleep during the night, due to several reasons. The main reason is the amount of academic work, it may be from procrastination. Whether it is in between classes, or just trying to sneak a nap into the day before a homework assign, napping is prominent. What exactly defines a nap? Merriam-Webster defines it by the definition of “to sleep briefly especially during the day”.
Interesting enough, naps only that last between 20-30 minutes can have tremendous effects on your body and your mind. Naps have the capability to alter your mood in a positive way and also can increase one’s alertness. According to a study on this website, NASA found that a 40 minute nap can increase alertness by 100%. Some prominent figures have been guilty of taking naps during their lives, maybe even too much. Former President George W. Bush and Albert Einstein are known for napping. Believe it or not, there is more than one type of nap. There are three categories of naps,technically.
Planned Naps -> When a person will be up late so they take a nap before they do homework.
Emergency Naps -> When a person is tired and can not continue their activity that they were engaging in.
Habitual naps -> When a persons naps at the same time everyday.
Clearly there are benefits to napping. The main intention of napping is to restore alertness in one”s self. There are also some physiological benefits in napping, you brain benefits from it because rest is crucial to proper brain functionality. A study compiled at St John’s Mercy medical center and the St Luke’s hospital found some benefits in the combination of napping and caffeine. When you nap, one’s perception increases and you actually reduce then risk of heart diseases by 37 % when you nap.
The best thing time interval to nap would be a 45 minute nap. A specific study done by Axel Mckelclinger that appeared Media News today report found some very interesting results. Numerous people were asked to participate in this experiment. All of the volunteers were asked to memorize 90 words as well as 120 randomized word pairs. Half of the volunteers took a nap and the other half watched a movie. The results of the second test were lower for both groups, but the nappers scored much higher than the movie watchers. This was not due to chance due to the number of contestants.
Naps are a crucial part of college, and you should try to utilize them as much as possible. Of course there are a few negative effects to napping, such as laziness or it can alter your sleep schedule. Napping is something that many of us do, but we do not realize how great it can be for us. Napping increases are functionality and our cognitive skills. Napping is something we take for granted.
Source
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/napping/page/0/2
https://michaelhyatt.com/why-you-should-take-a-nap-every-day.html
https://mic.com/articles/113718/science-has-good-news-for-people-who-love-to-nap#.pos9JzloS
I have found that napping has been a huge benefactor in helping me get through the day, especially because I stay up much later here at school than I used to at home. However, if I nap too late in the day I have a more difficult time falling asleep later at night. My question is, does napping too late in the day impose on a sleep cycle? This short article by the Mayo Clinic suggests napping mid-afternoon. Maybe it just depends on the person, but I find that any nap after 1pm just leads to suffering later that night.
I have always been a nap person, probably because I am a huge night owl and stay up late even when I don’t need to. But since I’ve gotten to college, I find myself napping even more than I used to. Because I stay up late, I always, without fail, nap after my 9 and 10 AMs. I believe these naps are at the perfect time because they recharge my for my afternoon classes and I find myself feeling much more awake and lively after my naps.
Many people swear that they wake up from a nap more tired than they were before they fell asleep, or that napping means you are slacking off, but I don’t find that to be true. If a nap can make you more focused, then it is actually helping your work.
Here are five reasons to nap!
https://michaelhyatt.com/why-you-should-take-a-nap-every-day.html
I’m a huge fan of napping, and I like to think that they provide a lot of health benefits to make up for my lack of sleep at night. While they seem to be rather healthy, there are also some downsides to naps. According to this article, http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/napping/art-20048319 , naps can cause us to feel disoriented when we wake up and they can also have a bad effect on our nightly sleep schedules. However, the article also mentioned that if you take a short nap, like the 40 minute nap mentioned in your article, your sleep schedule will most likely not be effected. Therefore, it seems that if you stay in the 30-45 minute nap range, there are little to no downsides!
Before coming to college I was never the type of person that would take a nap during the day because I didn’t feel the need to do so. Even in my first couple weeks I didn’t feel the need to take one because I never got tired, and also I felt like if I got in the trend of doing it, it would eventually lead to some bad habits. Which I proved to myself as the semester progressed that I would fall into the trap of taking naps, and it would come back to hurt me. After my one 9 in the morning class, now I have a tendency to take a nap, where I should really be spending that time working on homework. I have seen myself slowly fall behind because of this, leaving me more stressed then I thought I would be. Naps are very important to everyone, especially to college students because we are constantly doing work and staying up all night, and any catch up on sleep is beneficial.
Attached is an interesting article for any college students about taking naps: http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/02/12/25-napping-facts-every-college-student-should-know/
Before beginning school this year, I never took naps. I either never felt like I needed one, or just thought I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep during the day time. Whatever reasoning I first convinced myself with is surely overtaken now. My earliest class is 10:10, so I agree, I should not be complaining about lack of sleep, but for some reason I can’t get enough. I just fell right into the college nap trap and am still struggling to get out. As exams are coming up, papers need to be done, (blogs need to be written), I should be using my free time to get my life straight and get ahead, but no, I am catching Z’s after each period of the day almost. I know there are many positives to napping, and I completely agree that sometimes they are needed, but right now they are just setting me back! I guess that calls for some extra shots of expresso in my coffee this week!
I completely agree with this study! Especially this year I find it very difficult to squeeze a nap into my day, however when I do I feel much better physically and emotionally. Other times, as you stated, I feel lazy and more tired than I was before I took the nap. This is something to be careful of and watch because getting into a bad habit of napping all the time could create negative effects such as bad study habits and even test scores. This blog was organized and straight to the point, but including statistics and facts that prove naps have a more positive effect on college students would prove the negative effects wrong. Ultimately, naps are more positive to almost every college student you come into contact with, but asking those who don’t nap at often about their thoughts could be beneficial to your findings.
There’s nothing I look forward to more than an oppurtunity I have to take a nap. I completly agree with this study. Whenever I can take a nap in the middle of the day I jump on the oppurtunity because after I wake up I feel reenergized and more focused. I would highly reccomeended this to anyone who struggles to get through the day, if you have any free time in the day where you know you can take even a short nap I would. I know some people will say that it makes them more tired and drowsy after they wake up from a nap, but that can be due to the fact that it was too long.
Nice construction of your blog post! I think this is something we definitely all can relate to. I would have liked to see more connections to class material made within your blog post simply to give it more depth, otherwise a very relevant and interesting topic. I agree with your post that naps are indeed an important necessary part of life for all ages, but what I find myself asking is what is the perfect amount of time to allot for a nap? Sometimes I sleep to late and still feel tired and groggy or I do not sleep enough and feel the same way. I ended up one day doing some research to figure out the best amount of time to allot for a nap turns out the general consensus is about 20 minutes! Who would’ve thought! https://sleep.org/articles/how-long-to-nap/