I think I can speak for most of Penn State when I say naps are a crucial part of college. I LOVE naps. It’s actually a little scary how much I actually do sleep. For example, I sleep 7-8 hours a night and i’ll be up for 5 hours and then I’ll nap for 4 hours and be up for another 6 hours then go to bed for the night. I recently realized that while napping is great and helps, it may not always be the best thing to do. I have also heard recently that napping isn’t good for you. So I am going to explore the positives and negatives associated with napping.
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Take a nap, it helps!
I found an article that is all about napping from the National Sleep Foundation (pretty cool if I do say so myself). It states that 85% of people plus more will sleep throughout the whole day. There are two parts of a day, the time where we are asleep and the time that we are awake. While napping isn’t bad for a person, it is only recommended to sleep for 20-30 minutes not 4 hours like I have been doing. Another factor that plays a huge role in all of this is the temperature outside especially when you live in East Halls and there is no AC. Thanks Penn State!! According to sleep.org, there are 3 main reasons that the sun plays a huge part in making a person drowsy. The first one is that being in a hot room or directly in the sun can cause your body to overheat and lose track of its temperature. Your body is constantly trying to cool itself down and doesn’t have time to slack which results in your body feeling very tired and weary. Another problem which I know I do is not staying hydrated. I tend to forget to drink something and sometimes I’ll go all day without drinking water. It is bad but for me I am just not trained to drink water all the time, I never have. Even though we walk to class, we are still getting hit with sunlight which can cause skin to burn. We all know how we feel after being in the sun all day and getting a sunburn. All you want to do is sleep.
Sometimes the only way to get through a long day is to take a nap, I completely understand. Best Health Mag listed 19 reasons why taking a nap is good. Some of the reasons are it helps alleviate headaches, perks you up and even boosts your sex drive!
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Naps aren’t good, says who?!
According to Telegraph news, napping isn’t good for you and can increase your risk of getting diabetes by 46%. Ralph Downey III, PhD said, that even the small naps can reduce your sleep at night. Rachel Nuwer from the Smithsonian states that from a study should looked at that naps during the day for an extensive period of time can actually decrease your time here on Earth. Obviously one can conclude that naps aren’t always the best for a person, but a quick power nap will for sure do the trick. I couldn’t find that much information on why naps are bad for you.
All in all, I have found out a lot about naps. Growing up I was told that naps were good but now that I am in college and I nap frequently I am getting told to go to the doctors to have it checked out. I understand the concerns, but come on.. it’s just napping, right?
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Hi Cristen,
I am in love with this post!!! I have napped until I came to college… it has become a problem. I decided to make my classes all after 9, but that didn’t mean I was going to stop babysitting or take an internship requiring me to be up at 8am (sometimes on the weekend too). I love what I am doing, don’t get me wrong, but it eventually catches up to me after I go days without sleeping a good eight hours a night. I used to sleep in on the weekends until 11 every Saturday/Sunday, but that hasn’t happened in a good year. Even in the summer I decided to take classes- I was up at 7am (4 days a week, what fun that was)! I’m glad someone can tell me that naps aren’t as bad as people say they are because I refuse to stop taking them if they make me feel like I can function and focus. Naps are life 😉
This blog made me so happy! Never thought about ti but the sun truly takes it out of me. After a day at the beach, I’m so exhausted and I never know why because all I’ve done is sit around all day! But that makes so much sense that out bodies are trying to cool down our internal temperature and that takes energy! Also, I’ve heard so many bad things about taking naps as well but between classes, there is nothing stopping me from lying down, oops. Great blog!
I’m not really a nap person but when I do nap its usually for like three+ hours and takes up most of the day! This doesn’t help me much if I just needed to nap quick to feel replenished to do something, it honestly just makes me more tired than I already was once I wake up. Also its harder to fall asleep that night. Once in a while if I take a 20 minute nap I will wake up feeling good and ready to go but thats very rare.
I have been used to taking a nap since I was a child. I simply think that taking a nap can help me to refresh and become energetic in the afternoon. I also read a report when I was in China, which indicated that people should take a nap fewer than 40 minutes or more than 2 hours. Because people will enter deep sleep after they sleep for 40 minutes and a cycle of deep sleep is about 2 hours. So if people sleep more than 40 minutes but fewer than 2 hours, they will feel increasingly tired and sleepy. But I don’t know that people feel tired because high temperature cause the body to overheat and lose track of its temperature. So actually drinking much water is a way to prevent from being tired? I think everyone has his or her own way to regulate and refresh. So, for me, feel tired, take a nap.
I found this blog post very interesting, but I must admit, I was hoping you would conclude that napping is definitely beneficial. I used to take naps every day after school or high school sports practices, but I found myself struggling to fall asleep at night. Then, when I stopped taking naps, I would always be falling asleep in class, especially when the classroom was too hot, as you mentioned. (I’d even splash water on my face from my water bottle just to keep my eyes open). Based on my own personal studies, although not very scientific, I’ve concluded that naps are always worth it. The renewed energy I have after a nap makes it worth it to not be able to fall asleep later that night.
Ironically I only just woke up from a nap to work on a SCI 200 blog, just to end up reading a blog on napping! This is such a cool and interesting topic, thanks for blogging about it! I have read online before that being dehydrated makes you sleepy. I drink lots of water everyday, but the humid walks to class are really beating me down! I don’t nap much, but walking from Willard to the Forum every Tuesday-Thursday requires a little nap after class!
I am really fair-skinned (and also really ginger), and I’ve always noticed that when I get sunburned (which happens more often then I would like to admit) that I am always MUCH sleepier! I always thought this was just from taking pain killers, but your post inspired me to do some further research. Apparently, being sunburned is dehydrating and being that dehydration messes with your body’s levels of melatonin. Check it out here
Honestly, just RT. This post is too relatable. I have taken more naps in the time that I have been at college (3 weeks) than I have probably throughout my entire high school career. I found it interesting that you found evidence that naps should only last about 20-30 minutes. Apparently, I have been taking naps the wrong way my entire life-whoops. If you’re looking for even more reason to take that mid-day siesta, check this out! https://michaelhyatt.com/why-you-should-take-a-nap-every-day.html
As a frequent napper, I enjoyed reading about the many benefits of doing so (and I rolled my eyes at the negatives). I tend to sleep about 5 hours per night, which is a few shy if the often recommended 8 hours. I make up for this by taking naps usually in excess of 2 hours in the late afternoon- something that your blog post implies is a bad idea. I was curious as to the length of sleep required for a good nap, so I did some research. I think that it is worth considering that it takes at least 90 minutes to achieve what is called REM sleep (a concept that a blog about napping probably should have mentioned!). REM sleep is responsible for much of the bodies restoration functions and can be a good idea if you have the time to nap for that long at night but must wake up early for class. This article discusses that in more detail.
Just some thoughts! Very interesting post!
This blog post is so interesting, because it says my experience. When I do something difficult, I can’t focus on it all time, but after a short nap, I will have energy again to solve it.
This blog post is too perfect! I look forward to when I get to take a nap each day, so I guess you could say I am addicted (typical college student). I immediately clicked on the National Sleep Foundation link you provided and I was shocked to read that there are different types of naps! I fee like I should have known this based off how much I take naps… Some of the types of naps I read about were planned naps, emergency naps and habitual naps. As a college student I do not have time to habitual nap each day because my schedule is always changing. Habitual napping meant napping at the same time everyday. I do partake in planned napping which means that I set aside times when I can to take a nap. I noticed that there were pros and cons to napping, but despite the cons I am still going to continue with my naps! (Sorry not sorry)