Reasons Why It’s Good To Take A Nap

By Nathan Young on March 20, 2013

We all live in a stressful world. Everything’s in a hurry up, got to get this done, time crunch, in a rush type of world. But did you know that successful people do something you should be doing too? Successful people take a 20 minute nap on most days. Usually during a lunch break, these people go to a quiet and dark area to take a power nap. Even some workplaces now encourages workers to take power naps! Several famous people and leaders were known to take naps daily. Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison, Gene Autry, and John D. Rockefeller took daily naps. Several U.S. presidents such as Winston Churchill, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ronald Reagan also took daily naps.

Studies show that not only will you feel better almost immediately after taking a nap, says Sara Mednick, PhD, a sleep medicine researcher at the University of California at San Diego and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, but a daily nap of between 20 and 30 minutes before 4:00 pm will also increase your mental performance, reduce your chances of gaining weight, and make you feel a whole lot better!

Some of the benefits of taking a nap includes:

Increases your on-the-job alertness by almost 100 percent
Reducing your risk of dying from heart disease by nearly 40%
Boosting your alertness more than 50%
Improved and happier mood with no burnout
Increased creativity and productivity
Improved learning and memory
Helps you lose weight by altering metabolism
Reduced risks from heart attack, stroke, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and other cardiovascular problems
Improves your sex drive

All of these benefits make you wonder why places such as Kindergarten classes are cutting out nap time. So here are some tips when you take a nap.

Most people recommends taking a 20-minute nap before 4:00 pm. Any more time napping after 20 minutes risks you getting sleep inertia. Or the feeling of grogginess and disorientation.
Set an alarm on your phone to wake you up.
Try to nap at a consistent time every day, this will maximize your benefits.
Take a nap in a dark room or purchase a dark eye mask to use.
Use a blanket to keep your body temperature normal.
Nap in a private area like your car or an empty room.

I would suggest you all start taking short naps every day. But in the crazy world we live in now, this option might not be possible. Try to get some shut-eye, even a short 5-10 nap is better than no nap at all!