We have a double whammy sleep inertia question this week.

Miriam asks: What about having a lot of trouble waking up from an afternoon nap, even after a poor night’s sleep? I often find myself feeling extra groggy and dim, the opposite of what I hope for!

AJ asks: I love your book! I have been practicing naps, but I can only get about 15 minutes, no more. I have been trying to work the nap round you suggested ideal napping time of 1-3 pm. But I can only get about 15 minutes and then I wake up. I am more alert but physically, I still feel exhausted. Am I just dealing with a big fatigue headwind here? Do you have any suggestion for how to ascertain why I can’t sleep past 15 minutes? I knock off typically in my car in the parking lot of where I work, but only drift off for 10-15 minutes and then wake up. When I try to go back to sleep I get a worse feeling afterwards, very sluggish. Is this SWS sleep inertia? Read the rest of this entry »

Jørgen asks: You say (like wikipedia etc) on page 33 that one sleep cycle last for approximate 90-100 minutes. But at page 56-57 in your book, the section named “the lark and the owl”, you prescribe a one hour nap to both the lark and the owl. (you also recommend the one hour nap several other times).
Fair enough. Perhaps one will wake up in another light stage (Stage 2) than the REM at the end of the 90 minute nap, I thought. But at the “nap-dissection” at the same pages, both the lark and the owl pass through stage 2, SWS, S2, REM and then wake up in stage 2. That is one stage more than just one sleep cycle, in just 60 minutes! From what I have read (among other places, in your book), it’s supposed to take apr. 90 min. As far as I can see, you don’t write that they have condition themselves to have shorter cycles than normal, or anything like that.
I know that the later during the day one takes a nap, the larger the proportion SWS versus REM will be. But do the total amount of time to complete a cycle change?

Nap prescription: Jørgen wonders how is it possible that a nap of one hour can allow for more than one round of stage 2, SWS and REM? He also wants to know what is the deal with recommending one hour of sleep instead of a full 90-minutes.
Read the rest of this entry »

In pre-med and med school I discovered that I could study much more effectively if I let myself nap now and then. I’m one of those lucky stiffs who can plan a nap for 20 minutes and wake myself. Didn’t plan it that way, just tried it and it worked. Never looked back. Studied in a giant bean bag chair so I wouldn’t actually have to move from study position to nap position.

I’m old enough that I got the full work experience of an old fashioned obstetrics residency - back before they reduced residency work hours to 80 a week. First year we averaged about an 85 hour work week. Second year was horrid - worked 115-125 hours, once had to work 137 hours in 7 days. Horrid. In the third year it backed off to a leisurely 110 hours a week, and fourth we were home free – only 60-80 hours a week. Felt like vacation.

Read the rest of this entry »

July 25th I had the pleasure of being on NPR’s Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan to discuss, surprise surprise, napping at work! here is the link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11361685

It was great fun, but most importantly the discussion coaxed nappers across the globe out of their nap pods, cars, closets, where ever we clandestinely meet our mid-day snooze. Thank you for sending me your nap stories. I am going to post them on my blog, and maybe even set up a page on the website where we can swap nap stories, help non-nappers see the light, and post questions to the community.

The first nap story is from AJ:
I heard you on Talk of the Nation today. I was practically cheering the
whole time you were on! For years I have been a big believer in following
my body’s requests.

Read the rest of this entry »

Miriam asks: I am a doctoral student and am struggling terribly to retain all that I read. Memory has been very problematic for me for my entire life. Now however, I must remember or I will never succeed as a doctoral student. I read carefully and take copious notes but by the next day I am usually hard pressed to articulate the author’s main argument and points. Sleep is one thing I am always trying to get more of but I can’t help but wonder, is there anything else I can do? Your research struck a chord with me though, and I allowed myself a nap today! I’ll keep trying to sleep, and hope that helps my brain as much as I need it to.
Nap Prescription: In the same way that there is a wide distribution of height and weight across human beings, there is a similar amount of variability in memory. Each individual will also see a huge range across her own lifespan. So the struggle that Miriam expresses is definitely shared by a lot of people. The question is what can be done to improve our memory. Read the rest of this entry »

I published this “Provocation” in GOOD, a magazine made by people with “a passion for potential mixed with fierce pragmatism and creative engagement…” for people with “the sensibility of giving a damn.”
GOOD is GREAT!

When you hear it talked about, you might mistake it for something illicit. Some people will admit to doing it on the weekends, but only under very special circumstances. Others speak in hushed tones as they confess to doing it at work, usually behind locked doors. Should you admit to doing it, there are some who will look at you with fear, confusion, and disbelief, nonplussed that anyone could ever do it—especially not at work.

All this over a nap? The word makes you smile when you say it, and conjures up bucolic images of calm. So it seems strange that people would feel such guilt, shame, and shock over a little shut-eye. This reaction is particularly unwarranted now that scientists are discovering more and more evidence to suggest that a midday rest can improve your alertness, cognition, mood, cardiac health, and weight.

to read the rest go to:

http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Provocations/nodding_off

Its not every day that I get contacted by people regarding polyphasic ultrashort sleep, or Uberman sleep, as its called in all boasting seriousness, or perhaps irony, I haven’t quite figured out yet. So the fact that I received three such contacts this week led me to this blog entry regarding the topic. For people who are not familiar with this practice, we discuss its merits and short falls in the Extreme Napping chapter of Take a Nap! Basically, a person engaging in this lifestyle shortens her sleep/wake cycle dramatically so that eight hours of sleep and 16 hours of wake are condensed to 20-30 minutes of sleep and four hours of wake. So following the clock, your life would look something like this: midnight to 4am awake: 4-4:30 nap; 4:30-8:30 awake: 8:30-9am nap; 9-1pm awake: 1-1:30pm nap; 1:30-5:30pm awake: 5:30-6pm nap; 6-10pm awake; 10-10:30 nap. Across a 24-hr cycle, she will be sleeping only 2.5 hours and be awake for the rest.

This practice rests upon one important hypothesis that our biological rhythms are adaptable. This means that we can train our internal mechanisms not only when to sleep and wake, but also when to get hungry, have energy for exercise, perform mental activities. Inferred in this hypothesis is that we have the power to regulate our mood, metabolism, core body temperature, endocrine and stress response, basically everything inside this container of flesh we call home. Truly an Uberman feat! Read the rest of this entry »

Cris Asks: I’m curious to know if you’ve done any work with pregnant women and new moms. I don’t know of any one more sleep deprived (except for those with insomnia possibly). Is there a way to nap that would help these women feel more sane and human?
Nap Prescription: If you take a look at the current research in sleep and motherhood, you will wish you hadn’t! You are right Cris, this group of women are extremely sleep-deprived. Here are some statistics to prove the point. Pregnant women lose at least 41 minutes of nocturnal sleep. They have more “wake after sleep onset” (technical term for sleep that is disturbed by frequent awakenings). Studies have shown that the more irregular your sleep/wake cycle is the more health and cognitive problems you are liable to have. Drawing an analogy to another group of people who have a hard time with their sleep/wake schedules, sleep in the last month of pregnancy is comparable to that of people who work only evening shifts; sleep in the post-partum period is comparable to that of people with rotating shifts. Read the rest of this entry »