The power of a power nap — Tip #34
Just another tool to add into your arsenal of better living 🥱
As some of you know, I have been a hardcore napper 🎶 for most of my life. The reason is simple: when I was a kid, my parents forced me to rest in the afternoon so they could take a break. They were both working multiple jobs, so an afternoon break was crucial for them.
As I started working on my business, I always felt guilty about taking a break. Don’t get me wrong: back then, I was pushing incredibly hard. I could work ~13 hours without blinking. I thought that to reach my goals faster, I could remove the nap too and work an extra 45–60 min. This brilliant idea, unfortunately, backfired → I would feel extremely tired, unfocused, etc. exactly the reason why most people do not nap 😅
This made me realize that I was doing a few things right when napping:
I would never exceed 60 min of sleep during daylight → this protects my circadian rhythm, so my night sleep would not be impacted.
I would generally nap ~40 min. I am lucky that I fall asleep very quickly → this means that I get close to two full sleep cycles instead of waking up in the middle of one.
If you don’t recall, we talked about sleep cycles here 👇
The combo of these two things made it so that I got some rest during my crazy working hours, but at the same time didn’t impact my evening sleep or make me wake up groggy in the middle of a sleep cycle.
You may have heard of the concept of power nap, which is basically what I empirically discovered before even knowing the concept.
Why would you consider napping? It has a few research-backed benefits:
⚡️ Energy boost: Restores alertness and helps you feel more refreshed during the day. This is my perk: as I work a lot, I prefer to divide the day into two blocks of productivity.
🧠 Better focus: Improves concentration and mental performance after a short reset.
😌 Less fatigue: Reduces the feeling of sleepiness and helps you push through long days. This is especially true if you ate more carbs than usual during lunch.
🌙 Mood support: Can help you feel calmer and less irritable when you’re running on low energy. Although I didn’t really experience this one personally.
💡 Mental reset: Gives your brain a break, helping you return to tasks with a clearer mind
Now, not everyone has this luxury. I manage my own schedule and mostly work from home. But I am honest when I say that I wouldn’t be able to work as hard as I do if I didn’t nap, because my energy would naturally collapse, I would suffer the afternoon slump like everyone else, etc.
On top of this, in order to learn the art of napping 🧑🎨, it does require a few dedicated weeks before you can really reap the benefits. I have mixed feelings about this tip, but my main suggestion is to give it a shot if you can and see if you notice any benefits. If not, stick with your current setup that works for you. I know plenty of people who, for example, have an espresso post-lunch to push through the afternoon slump. Whenever I do that, my anxiety levels increase and my sleep gets hampered. Please experiment and find what works best for you!
Your weekly tip: try adding a short power nap. Keep it under 60 min during daylight, ideally around 20-40 min, so you can recharge without disrupting your night sleep. Even if it doesn’t become part of your routine, you’ll learn a lot about how your energy works during the day.
Don’t forget to send this tip to a friend who struggles with afternoon energy crashes 🫰
See you next week, until then…
Don’t Panic 😱
Sometimes I feel I must be an alien. I keep reading about how napping helps you feel more alert, and how people feel sleepy after eating lunch, and neither of these is true for me! After eating, I feel the opposite of sleepy. I feel alert and I have a lot of energy, *especially* if I eat a lot of carbs, which are metabolized faster. 😂 I’m also a caffeine non-responder, so Espressos don’t do anything for my sleepiness or alertness.
My family tried to get me to nap when I was a kid but I never felt like it. I just spent that time reading or playing video games instead.