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I'm experimenting with powernapping. I'm trying the caffein slingshot and powernapping without coffee.

I thought you need to nap for around 20 minutes, but research shows that 10 minutes is the optimal time to nap. Do you experiment with powernapping? How do you do it, how long do you sleep?

flag	asked Feb 2 at 11:05 StefanSSF 317●1●7

Mohammad · Accepted Answer · 2010-02-03 01:02:11Z UTC

I love power napping, but you have to get it right. Ideally you want to have a 15-20 minute power nap during the early afternoon hours. The reason I say 15-20 minutes is that, your brain waves, will not start going in too deep sleep, but your sleep state will be low enough to refresh you. Once you get to 30+ minutes you have to start worrying about sleep inertia, the groggy, tired feeling you get once you wake up.

The way a normal sleep cycle works is about 90 minutes to 120 minutes, and In that you will generally go through 4 sessions of Non-REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movements) and one stage of REM sleep. It goes 1>2>3>2>R. Ideally you want to wake towards the end of that first session of stage 2 non-rem sleep, why because if you hit stage 3 you will go into deep sleep, waking up during deep sleep, will hit you with some pretty bad sleep inertia, that can take up to 30 minutes to recover from.

So keep your power napping sessions in the early afternoon, and between 15-20 minutes enjoy!

Jess · Answer 2 · 2010-02-07 17:47:30Z UTC

This is going to sound really random but I love taking naps at the viewing gallery in the pool at my university. Here, it's a pretty popular place to take a nap since it's carpeted bleachers not traditional seats. So what I do is grab a coffee, down it while watching the swimmers and then prop up my bag as a pillow. The warmth/humidity is great, it feels like you're taking a nap on a tropical beach but because there's stuff going on around you, you'll probably only sleep for 20 minutes maximum. If you a have similar area in your school you should try it.

Kelly Sutton · Answer 3 · 2010-02-08 18:26:58Z UTC

When I nap, it is usually at my universities library. I have a "secret" place where there is a very comfortable leather chair with a stool. I prop my feet up, throw on some quiet tunes on my iPod, and nap for about 15 minutes. That is what I have found to be my optimum amount of time to get re-energized and able to think again.

Considering humans are part of the 15% of mammals that are monophasic sleepers, meaning that our days are divided into two distinct periods, one for sleep and one for wakefulness. Other than children and the elderly, the majority of us can make it without naps (not that they're not helpful). Science still isn't sure how this came about, but its interesting to think about. Here are some tips on napping as well as benefits from the National Sleeping Foundation:

TIPS:

A short nap is usually recommended (20-30 minutes) for short-term alertness. This type of nap provides significant benefit for improved alertness and performance without leaving you feeling groggy or interfering with nighttime sleep.

Your surroundings can greatly impact your ability to fall asleep. Make sure that you have a restful place to lie down and that the temperature in the room is comfortable. Try to limit the amount of noise heard and the extent of the light filtering in. While some studies have shown that just spending time in bed can be beneficial, it is better to try to catch some zzz’s.

If you take a nap too late in the day, it might affect your nighttime sleep patterns and make it difficult to fall asleep at your regular bedtime. If you try to take it too early in the day, your body may not be ready for more sleep.

BENEFITS:

Naps can restore alertness, enhance performance, and reduce mistakes and accidents. A study at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness 100%.

Naps can increase alertness in the period directly following the nap and may extend alertness a few hours later in the day.

Scheduled napping has also been prescribed for those who are affected by narcolepsy.

Napping has psychological benefits. A nap can be a pleasant luxury, a mini-vacation. It can provide an easy way to get some relaxation and rejuvenation.

Naps really are helpful...I'm considering taking one now!

Michelle · Answer 4 · 2010-02-06 12:12:24Z UTC

I set my alarm to go off 30 minutes before I attempt to nap. If I lay awake for 10 minutes or more, I re-set my alarm to 30 minutes from the current time.

I don't drink coffee before I nap.

I find that my powernaps are more effective if I stay in my clothes and sleep on top of the sheets versus changing into pajamas (I have a friend that changes clothes for her naps). If I nap in pajamas I never get up!

Kelly Sutton · Answer 5 · 2010-02-07 03:41:42Z UTC

Here's how I do it:

Stay in plain clothes.
Leave the lights on
Set alarm for 20 minutes as I'm lying down.
(Optional) Drink a cup of coffee quickly for the caffeine slingshot.
Hope for the best.

You will only get 5-10 minutes of sleep sleep, but you won't wake up feeling groggy or even think about hitting the snooze button. This is usually enough to recharge me for the rest of the day!

Erlynne · Answer 6 · 2010-02-07 15:00:17Z UTC

1

I've always heard of 20 minute naps and they seem to work best for me. Have you heard of Everyman?

It's polyphasic sleep with either a 3 hours core nap and + 3 20 minute naps, or a 1.5 hour core + 4-5 20 minute naps. I've done the 3 hr/3 naps and it works really really well. Though you may end up with far too much time on your hands.

answered Feb 7 at 15:00

Erlynne
111●5

	I'm not so sure that polyphasic sleep is good for you, psychologically, or physically. What it seems to be doing is lowering your amount of REM sleep to under 35 minutes a day when an average person gets close to 2 hours of REM sleep. REM sleep is extremely important, if you don't get enough you also can fall into REM rebound. It's also been scientifically proven that REM sleep deprivation can lead psychological problems, loss of memories, not to mention increased fiber formation in erectile tissues for both males and females, leading to loss of erectile function. – Mohammad♦ Feb 7 at 15:30
	In short I don't think your getting enough REM and deep sleep with polyphasic sleeping, to me it seems like your getting some light sleep, not nearly enough, and even less deep sleep. Deep sleep is when your body repairs its self. – Mohammad♦ Feb 7 at 15:31
	The thing with polyphasic sleep is that it pushes you into REM sleep quicker, so you still get the average 1.5 hours of REM. (Of course, I can only speak for my experience and it worked out very well when I could incorporate naps into my schedule.) – Erlynne Feb 7 at 22:32
	The only way to push yourself into REM sleep quicker is to go into REM rebound...and that only happens if you are REM deprived. I looked into a few studies on it and everything I have read on it says that the goal is to still provide the needed 8 hours of sleep just splitting it up throughout the day, which makes no sense, I would rather sleep at night and have my whole day available. Not to mention the NASA study said that the night naps led to 60+ minutes of sleep inertia post naps. Most of the science I've seen doesn't support it and the articles I have seen that support it are weak at best – Mohammad♦ Feb 8 at 3:40
	Ah, that's fair enough. Personally, I have issues sleeping regularly and getting the requisite 8 hours of sleep. Everyman is just a way for me to be more efficient with my insomnia. As to the science behind polyphasic sleep, I'll grant you that there hasn't been a lot of non-anecdotal evidence for it. All I know is that, for me, switching to a polyphasic cycle gave me a lot more energy and had me be more productive than monophasic sleep. The other reason Everyman works well for me is that I interact with people in many different time zones - splitting up sleep is a more convenient option. – Erlynne Feb 8 at 4:00

Slimer9273 · Answer 7 · 2010-02-02 23:45:34Z UTC

I'm a big fan of the power nap. The part I struggle with is how long to sleep after I've really settled down. In 10 minutes, you're basically just lying there trying to relax. Unless you're seriously sleep deprived, you'll never actually get any sleep.

I usually try to set my alarm for 1/2 an hour after I lie down which I think probably give me about 10 minutes of sleep after I've relaxed. I also give my self a minute or 2 to wake back up. I would not recommend taking the whole snooze period though, because I think it makes me feel groggier.

Sometimes though it's more about just recharging and not actually sleep, so then I think shorter times do work. I find them helpful for getting refocused and in between significant switches in projects I'm working on.

I've never played around with the slingshot method before, but I would expect this probably work for me, judging how long it takes me to get going off a quick coffee break.

Tessa · Answer 8 · 2010-02-04 08:13:57Z UTC

I've only heard that powernapping is the way to go. I personally can't nap without napping THE ENTIRE DAY.

If you must nap, set your alarm and stick to a specific wake up time. Otherwise, your poor sleep schedule will suffer. [This is assuming you have a sleep schedule]

Greg · Answer 9 · 2010-02-04 16:16:21Z UTC

I'm a huge powernap fan and I like to think that I've gotten it down to a science. Here's how I pull it off:

1) Set two different alarms: I find that I naturally just hit the snooze button/don't always hear it so I set different alarms about 5 minutes apart to make sure I wake up. Something about the whole "well I'll just get woken up in 5 minutes if I go back to sleep" ensures I get up

2) I time my nap for 25 minutes: This allows me about 5-10 minutes to fall asleep, but on the off chance I fall asleep right away it's not that long of a nap that I feel groggy.

3) I only nap when I have a clear mind: This is the biggest thing for me. When I powernap I make sure that it's during down time. I make sure that I don't have something rattling around in my head because that just means that I have a difficult time falling asleep and I'm stressed when I wake up because of the lost time.

How do you feel about powernapping?

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