Pradeep Kumar [BLOG]

I don’t really want to quote any medical research or case study here to prove this because this post is my personal experience as well. Being a habitual nap-taker made me a productive (and interactive) person. I don’t feel guilty about it. Well, if you feel guilty, then I’ll let you know that famous celebrities and renowned personalities like Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, etc., are regular nappers and they all believe this made them better (mind & body).

I never really got a chance to take a nap in school or college, they were too busy worrying about my future… future examinations. By blessings, I got a home job (:P) so this small productivity hack helped me a lot to stay focused and work on things more efficiently. People often term us ‘Lazy’ when we take a nap, but they don’t realise the potential use of napping. We are taking a rest that’ll help us to complete our tasks by the day end.

Napping (or Power Napping) is not equal to Sleeping (or Deep Sleeping). They are both different and they both have different time limits. Napping means sleeping lightly or briefly. There are 4 different types of napping (via IO9), they are: 1) Planned napping 2) Emergency napping 3) Habitual napping 4) Appetitive napping.

Like I mentioned before Napping and Sleeping are totally different, the benefits are almost the same but in less quantity. When you are taking a nap you practically move away from reality, you enter a zone where you forget everything, and where both your mind/body gets relaxed. Napping increases your alertness, improves your memory, prevents burnouts, enhances your mood and overall it makes you a productive person, all this free-of-charge!

The best thing about napping is that you don’t need a bed (exactly) to do it, you can do that anywhere you feel comfortable, let it be your classroom beach, workplace chair, or even inside bus/train. All these entirely depends upon your comfortability. After taking a decent nap I wash my face, do some basic exercises and start to do my work. Result? I was able to do my work with a clear mind, in short, I’ll be knowing what I’ll be doing with full focus.

Most people often get confused like when they should take a nap, well, that’s a good confusion, because it really depends on your regular sleeping time. If your ‘Deep Sleep’ing schedule is from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM (I recommend 7 to 8 hours of deep sleep), and if you’ll start your routine work by 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM, then I would recommend a power nap after early afternoon, say like 1:30 PM or 2:00 PM. You should plan to take each nap productively and strategically. Why productively? Because it shouldn’t affect or conflict with your regular routine work timings. These timings vary according to your own schedule and moreover some people are not comfortable with napping after having their lunch.

I used to take a 1-hour nap before doing anything potential, being a Blogger it helps me a lot to focus on my writing or any service I do. You can also take naps for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, etc., according to your convenience.

So whenever I take that 1-hour nap I make sure that some things are happening side-by so that I can save some time and match it with my napping time. These are the things I used to do when I take a nap:

1. Recharging My Laptop / Phone / Tab (I make sure they reach 100% when I wake up.)

2. Start Downloading Movies / Music / Software (I usually won’t download any files when I work – it deviates my attention or focus.)

3. Switch Off All My Gadgets (Well, it collides with the first point but then all electronic devices need to be switched off to control the heating, so I give them a nap time as well.) 😉

1. Same Time: If possible try to be consistent and nap at the same time every day. I would prefer afternoon time for napping. Also please don’t take a nap if it is too close to your bedtime (regular deep sleep).

2. Short Time: Like I told before, there is a key difference between sleeping and napping. The former involves a time limit greater than the latter. So make your napping time short and sweet. Anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour is pretty decent.

3. Be Comfortable: Remove your shoes/socks. Use a blanket. Switch off the lights.

A good night’s sleep is really essential, but napping is like an add-on that will be useful for us to be brisk during the daytime, like an additional energy booster. Instead of spending time on drinking coffees/teas you can invest that time for napping. Also, like I mentioned in the post title napping is really necessary for productivity and I suggest/request all the schools (children need this the most), colleges (well, grown-up kids) and workplaces (just 30 minutes please) to allow napping. Trust me you are not wasting their time, you are saving time. Happy Napping! :*