I’ve never been one for coffee and have never been dependent on naps. However, as college seems to run through the 24 hours in the day, students stay up late and wake up early, leaving sleep as a low priority on most people’s lists. Two popular and well-known options to defeating the tired feeling can be found through caffeine or napping. Both, however, have their pros and cons.
Caffeine is a quick fix within arms reach of most places. Any store on campus will sell a Starbucks manufactured drink, some even as powerful as Espresso Shots. And if that doesn’t work, there’s a Starbucks in the 
HUB as well as access to coffee at any commons area. WebMD says that caffeine can improve memory or concentration and maybe “lowering risks of Alzheimer’s or liver disease.” However, it is habit-enforcing as the drinker becomes addicted to the caffeine. It can also “can set you up for high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and decreased bone density — not to mention jangled nerves” (WebMD). So while coffee is a quick fix that appears to have some long term benefits, it mostly creates a dependence and, for those who drink it regularly and stop, terrible withdrawal symptoms.
Napping can really be a lifesaver, speaking from my own experience. The National Sleep Foundation even breaks napping down into three categories: emergency, planned, and habitual. The benefits to napping are immediate alertness and a sense of a mini-vacation from the day itself: “A study at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness 100%” (National Sleep Foundation). However, besides being difficult to fit into someone’s schedule, napping can cause grogginess after waking up, can negatively effect a sleep cycle, and can be “associated with increased risk of heart failure in people already at risk” according to one study (National Sleep Foundation).
Obviously I have a bias towards naps as someone who doesn’t drink coffee. But which one could be better for those with busy and sleep-deprived schedules? It is an experiment worth testing.
Ive always tried to stay away from caffeine and never thought it had any positive effects, very interesting to see that there are some upsides to it. As having only attempted napping to help boost my energy, I find this post very intriguing as a possible option try to get some more pep in my step. For sure Caffeine will be something to try out. In the end I fell while napping may not have as powerful a start up as some samples of Caffeination will, it could be in the long run better for more aspects of health. great post and discussion point here is a link to a little bit of both… Drink a coffee then take a nap!! http://lifehacker.com/306029/reboot-your-brain-with-a-caffeine-nap
Here’s a funny story. I attempt to conquer fatigue in the same way as you: more napping and less coffee. Yet, for my entire college experience (okay, it’s been a month), I’ve been extremely fatigued. I’ve tried going to bed at a reasonable time to get the recommended 8 hours. Still, I can’t be awake the entire day without a nap. Likewise, coffee has little to no effect on me; I never feel super energetic or anything. So, does college cause exhaustion? Obviously there are confounding variables like staying up too late, etc. Anyway, I’m not tired because of my college tendencies at all. My doctor just informed me I’m anemic, which is nothing to be too concerned about, just the lack of iron in my blood is causing the exhaustion. That, is what we call an anecdote. I’m the exception. I’m tired because I’m anemic, which is completely irrelevant to this study.
This post is especially interesting to me because I have always been an avid coffee drinker throughout high school. I became dependent on it to the point that if I didn’t have my morning coffee, I would not be able to fully wake up. I decided to quit being so dependent on coffee for the rest of the year and it was very hard. Coffee really is similar to a drug!