Enhance Your Wellness Through Micro-Naps
Micro-napping is a sleep strategy that can both maximize your productivity and lead to great wellness benefits. Whether you are looking to increase your energy in the afternoon, get more done throughout the day or increase your athletic performance, a micro-nap can help you achieve your. In doing so, it's important to consider what a micro-nap is and how to get the most out of a micro-nap. If you're a newcomer to daytime napping, don't worry about specifics as much as the idea itself. The process of micro-napping is simple and can easily be incorporated into your daily routine.
While sleep is a complex matter that can't be entirely covered in one article, the dynamics of sleep which affect our health and performance are simple. Micro-napping is merely the act of taking advantage of our complex sleep patterns in order to produce the maximum possible sleep benefits in the shortest possible time. In short, micro-napping is accomplished by selectively shortening the length and intensity of an energy producing nap-time.
A standard micro-nap is twenty to thirty minutes long and is carried out sometime in the early afternoon. Further, micro-napping is intended to increase productivity as well as the ability to sleep later in the day. Micro-napping is not a complex, scientific exercise only performed by a few individuals, it is a common occurrence in many countries throughout the world. Countries like Thailand, Spain and Argentina share in common a cultural nap period during the early afternoon. Anyone who has taken high school Spanish has no doubt learned about the common "siesta" practiced in Spain and South America. Micro-napping is also common among the most highly-regarded people of the modern era. People like John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all incorporated micro-naps in their daily schedules.
In order to get the most out of a micro-nap, it needs to be timed properly after the consumption of certain foods. And while nighttime sleep is benefited by the consumption of proteins and fats, afternoon napping is benefited by the consumption of caffeine and sugar. Although the idea of consuming caffeine and sugar before micro-napping might sound counter-intuitive, as caffeine is designed to keep you awake and alert, there is sound scientific research that supports this concept. When caffeine and sugar consumed, it takes around 20-30 minutes for their effects to take place and influence the body's awareness and energy levels. By napping during this absorption period, the body is allowed to more fully utilize the the caffeine and sugar; thus maximizing their effects upon awakening.
Another important factor of a micro-nap is the time allotted to it. Keeping micro-naps between twenty and thirty minutes is necessary for optimum benefit. Napping longer has the reverse effect and you end up with less energy then you had before you napped. The biology behind this idea in complex, but it's dependent on your progression through varying REM cycles during sleep. By limiting your nap time, you can be certain to optimize your sleep time in the proper sleep cycles in order to obtain the greatest benefit of micro-napping.
So that's the micro-nap. What can a 20 minute nap do for your productivity? While it's already a way of life in many countries, it's slowly creeping into the western world. If you're looking for the ultimate productivity cure, a micro-nap is the best idea.
While sleep is a complex matter that can't be entirely covered in one article, the dynamics of sleep which affect our health and performance are simple. Micro-napping is merely the act of taking advantage of our complex sleep patterns in order to produce the maximum possible sleep benefits in the shortest possible time. In short, micro-napping is accomplished by selectively shortening the length and intensity of an energy producing nap-time.
A standard micro-nap is twenty to thirty minutes long and is carried out sometime in the early afternoon. Further, micro-napping is intended to increase productivity as well as the ability to sleep later in the day. Micro-napping is not a complex, scientific exercise only performed by a few individuals, it is a common occurrence in many countries throughout the world. Countries like Thailand, Spain and Argentina share in common a cultural nap period during the early afternoon. Anyone who has taken high school Spanish has no doubt learned about the common "siesta" practiced in Spain and South America. Micro-napping is also common among the most highly-regarded people of the modern era. People like John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all incorporated micro-naps in their daily schedules.
In order to get the most out of a micro-nap, it needs to be timed properly after the consumption of certain foods. And while nighttime sleep is benefited by the consumption of proteins and fats, afternoon napping is benefited by the consumption of caffeine and sugar. Although the idea of consuming caffeine and sugar before micro-napping might sound counter-intuitive, as caffeine is designed to keep you awake and alert, there is sound scientific research that supports this concept. When caffeine and sugar consumed, it takes around 20-30 minutes for their effects to take place and influence the body's awareness and energy levels. By napping during this absorption period, the body is allowed to more fully utilize the the caffeine and sugar; thus maximizing their effects upon awakening.
Another important factor of a micro-nap is the time allotted to it. Keeping micro-naps between twenty and thirty minutes is necessary for optimum benefit. Napping longer has the reverse effect and you end up with less energy then you had before you napped. The biology behind this idea in complex, but it's dependent on your progression through varying REM cycles during sleep. By limiting your nap time, you can be certain to optimize your sleep time in the proper sleep cycles in order to obtain the greatest benefit of micro-napping.
So that's the micro-nap. What can a 20 minute nap do for your productivity? While it's already a way of life in many countries, it's slowly creeping into the western world. If you're looking for the ultimate productivity cure, a micro-nap is the best idea.
Source...