Perfect Power Nap Time

Getting enough sleep at night is tough for most people. If you have kids, especially ones that don’t sleep through the night, feeling fully fresh in the morning is pretty much not happening. You’re likely waking up wishing that you could just sleep a few more minutes each day (although if you do, it’s usually a lot longer than just a few minutes).

Whether it’s your kids, a job, or something else that is making you get up in the morning before you’re fully rested, there are just some days when you feel that you need some more sleep to make it through the day. Unfortunately, you probably don’t have enough time to sleep for another 2 hours in the middle of the day.

Even if you do have time for a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day, that strategy will often backfire on you. You’ll often find that after a 2 hour nap, you’ll lose another 30 minutes trying to wake yourself up to get going again. At night, you’ll find that you’re likely not tired enough to fall asleep at your regular time since you slept for 2 hours in the middle of the day. Taking a long nap in the middle of the day is just something that doesn’t usually work very well for most people.

However, a power nap can be the perfect solution. The term power nap refers to a short nap which rejuvenates your body, without putting it into the deepest sleep. This means that when you wake up from such a nap, you should be able to stand up pretty quickly and get going towards whatever activities you need. For a busy parent, this is a perfect solution to the nap problem.

How much time should I sleep?

The key to a power nap is how much time you actually sleep. Sleep too long, and you’ll fall asleep too deeply and won’t feel refreshed. Not able to fall asleep at all, and you’ll find yourself not refreshed enough to get through the rest of the day. Finding the perfect time for a power nap will make a huge difference.

Falling to sleep for about 2 to 5 minutes is the perfect time for actually be asleep and to wake up. If you go longer than 10 minutes, you're likely going to find that you've fallen asleep too deeply. Less than that, and you're not going to have refreshed yourself enough. How do you sleep for 2 to 5 minutes? It depends on how tired you are.

A 2 to 5 minute power nap will generally mean that you're laying in bed for 10 to 20 minutes. It really just depends on how tired you are, and how quickly you fall asleep. You’ll have to try it out to figure out what works best for you. You may find that 10 minutes is enough for you to fall asleep and wake refreshed. For others, it will need to be longer.

If you find that your body doesn’t wake itself up after a few minutes, then make sure you set an alarm. Set the alarm for 20 minutes from when you lay down (or less once you know your body better) so that you don’t sleep too long.

Conclusion

Getting a power nap in can really make a huge difference in your productivity later in the day. You don’t need more than 20 minutes to make the difference between feeling completely tired the last half of the day, and feeling like you can take on the world.