The Truth About the 'Power Nap'

From a napping standpoint, there's the quick 20 minute power nap, which actually can be very effective. So a power nap is more stages one and stage two. It usually last for approximately 20 minutes. Now a stage one or stage two is sort of light sleep. This is not the good wake up and feel great sleep, this is a mechanism by which people seem to feel better even though they got light sleep.

When you're doing a power nap then, do you set a timer?

I often tell people to do just that. I actually have people create little nap kits for themselves. And so, usually people are napping during the day, so I ask them to have eye shades, I ask them to use ear plugs and I ask them to have one of those little travel alarms that they can put somewhere close by, because the ear plug may zonk out the ability to hear the travel alarm. So usually, those 2 or 3 things can be good. The biggest problem with naps is finding a safe, comfortable place for people to nap. So, if you're in an office where you can close your door, that's one thing, but if you're in an environment where that's not the case, a lot of people will go and nap in their cars. I hesitate to tell people to go nap in their cars unless they have what I call a napping buddy, where two people are in the car, where one person may be reading and taking some relaxation time where the other person can nap. because what I don't like is people alone in their cars in a parking lot asleep, because then somebody could come by.