As a college student, I'm very familiar with the concept of napping. With the lack of sleep I get, I'm always longing for one. Naps get me through my roughest days, and even though they are my saving grace most of the time, they also come with some not so pleasant conditions in the process. So what are the things that should be considered for “to nap, or not to nap?”
To Nap: Pre-Nap Collapsing
Nothing feels better than when you’re absolutely exhausted than when you can give your entire body weight over to your bed and feel like you don’t have to do it anymore, even if it's only for a short amount of time. After carrying yourself around all day with the lack of sleep that you have unwillingly adopted into your schedule, all you want if for something else to take on the job. Collapsing onto whatever surface you use for a nap and feeling like that surface is there for you, is a feeling like no other.
Not to Nap: Occasional Extra-Tiredness
Though napping is supposed to make you feel more awake, alert, and refreshed, it may not work out that way. Often when you do not take a nap for a certain amount of time or if you pick a bad position and/or place to nap in, you, unfortunately, may end up feeling more exhausted than you were before you took your nap.
To Nap: Actually Feeling Rested
Some naps really just hit the spot and make the world feel better once you wake up from them. An incredibly solid nap can make you feel like you're on top of the world and that it's now your oyster. You become more productive than you usually are, get a million things done, and can even tolerate the people around you better. You crankiness has disappeared and you feel like a new man/woman even though your nap was not nearly as long as you wished it had been.
Not to Nap: Lack of Night Sleeping
That hour or so nap you took at 3:00pm felt like it saved your life and allowed you to get a million things done because of the energy you gained back. However, now it's your usual bedtime and all you’re doing is lying there and wondering why you're so restless tonight when all you want to do is sleep and be able to wake up nice and rested the next morning. Well, your nap, has disrupted your sleep schedule and now your body feels like it should be up and being productive for longer than you would like. You will fall asleep eventually, but the pre-bed thinking time when you contemplate your life decisions will last longer than usual.
So in this napping game of risk, you never fully know how you will feel afterward. Will I feel refreshed and rewarded? Or will I awake more miserable than I was pre-nap? You can never know the answer for sure but in my opinion, it's always worth a shot. So carry on my fellow nappers and hope for a solidly rested outcome. Napping can be mastered, and though you will always long for more, just hang in there until your next napping opportunity arises.
