What do you think about napping? Good? Bad? Well, for some people who are always in conflict with time, napping is just a word. And that’s exactly why you need to take napping seriously.
We are living in a world where most of us are sleep deprived. But if you study the researches which are done on napping, you will realize it has many benefits.
Napping comes with many advantages. Boosting our brain, improving verbal memory, problem-solving ability, object learning, perpetual learning and statistical learning are some of them. Also, as more benefits of napping, it’s stated that improvement of our reaction time, helping with math, treating fatigue and improving our mood are also gains from napping.
Furthermore, it’s found that napping can alleviate stress and supports in better heart health, low blood pressure. And, it also brings psychological benefits as boosting rejuvenation.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, naps can be categorized into three categories.
Planned napping (preparatory napping)- This means a person takes a nap before actually gets sleepy. This helps to reduce tiredness and fatigue when the person has to get up again before the normal bedtime.
Emergency napping – This means the person gets a nap when he/she is really tired and drowsy because he/she cannot continue the work due to being really sleepy. Hence having an emergency nap, a person can avoid many risks.
Habitual napping – This is like a habit. Children tend to sleep every day at the same time. So do adults. This is more like an energy-boosting time for people.
A Greek study states that adult men who take naps 3 times week are 37% have a less chance to have a heart related problems than people who don’t nap.
There are countries which support napping such as Spain. Here, there is famous Spanish Siesta where people rest and take a nap. Yet, when it comes to countries as USA and UK, there’s a tendency of having higher rate of heart attack as they are not supportive for napping.
In 1995, NASA evaluated the effects of 747 pilots who take naps for 40 mins a day. It has found that the performance of these people has increased by 16% in median reaction time to 34% lapses when compared to the group who doesn’t take a rest.
Also, according to the studied done in 2008, it’s found that naps work better than caffeine, when it comes to improving the mental function.
According to the time of your nap, you will experience various benefits.
20 minutes nap – This improves memory, mental alertness and learning skills.
20-30 minutes nap – Boots creativity and memory
30-60 minutes – Enhances memory and decision-making skill
60 – 90 minutes – This ensures REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep along with resetting the brain and improving the problem-solving ability.
So, no matter what people say, you need to have a stable mentality to continue your day. So, don’t think napping as a waste of time because being healthy should be your priority.
