Naps are an essential part of my life. The hours I spent napping in college probably exceeded the time I spent studying (not really). However, not everyone appreciates my ability to take naps at any time of the day.
But, not many people know that napping has many benefits including:
1. They help you recharge.
Are you ever tired during the day for no absolute reason? Maybe you’ve been in the library all day studying or doing homework. You should probably take a short power nap.
However, it’s important to time your power nap to 20 minutes or less for maximum benefits.
2. Improves performance
Naps can improve performance in areas such as reaction time, logical reasoning, and symbol recognition. Napping helps reinforce learning and memory and can improve associative memory.
In a study done in Germany, volunteers were asked to memorize single words as well as word pairs. One group took a 90-minute nap while the other group watched a DVD during that time. Both groups remembered the number of words they were asked to memorize; however, the group that took a nap recalled more word pairs than the group that watched the DVD.
3. Improves mood
It’s true. Napping does improve my mood. After every daily nap I take, I feel happier and more relaxed than I did before I napped. Typically, an adult is supposed to get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Usually, college students like myself, don’t get that much sleep. So, throughout the day, we are tired, unmotivated, and impatient. Whenever I wake up after only 4-5 hours of sleep, I am usually cranky and don’t feel like doing anything. I also don’t feel like dealing with or talking to people. However, after a quick nap, I’m happy as ever and ready to complete all my assignments.
4. Boosts creativity
Naps improve problem solving and creative thinking. Studies at Georgetown found that during napping, the right hemisphere of the brain was incredibly active compared the left hemisphere, which was fairly inactive. The right side of the brain is mostly responsible for tasks pertaining to creativity, such as visual thinking. However, much of earth’s population is right-handed and generally, the left hemisphere is more active in people who are right-handed.
5. Reduces headaches and migraines
I’m not sure if this is backed by studies but every time I have a headache, I usually take a nap and my headache is gone by the time I wake up. Usually when I tell my parents I have a headache, they either give me Tylenol or tell me to take a nap. Every time my dad has a migraine, he goes to lay down and naps. So maybe napping does cure common headaches and migraines? Who knows. Well, I have a headache right now so I’m going to take a nap to test this theory.
