
How to nap - ozzzy
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/naps/
======
tobtoh
For those wondering how to nap at the office and not get hauled into the
managers office for sleeping on the job, I paraphrase a tip from Scott Adams
(Dilbert):

"Grab a handful of paperclips and find an office/meeting room. Shut the door
and lie down on the ground with your feet against the door. Sprinkle the
paperclips in front of you. Now have a nap.

If someone tries to enter the room, the door will hit your feet. This will
naturally cause them to pause (and stops them entering), it wakes you up and
lets you reach for the paperclips which gives you a ready excuse ("Oh sorry, I
was just picking up the paperclips")"

:)

~~~
josefresco
What about sleeping under your enclosed desk? and maybe building a small shelf
to hold an alarm clock...

/end lame joke

~~~
felideon
s/lame joke/Seinfeld reference :)

------
nicholasjbs
I cannot overstate how much power naps have improved my life. I started doing
them regularly about seven years ago and have been recommending them to
everyone I can since. Napping makes me happier, more alert, and way more
productive.

A shameless plug: I wrote a post about how I learned to nap here:
<http://unschooled.org/2011/05/how-i-nap>

~~~
spuz
Can you and other nappers here explain how you are able to find somewhere to
nap in a busy office environment (and your car isn't available)? For me, lying
on the floor would be far too noisy with hundreds of PCs humming away and I
would be at constant risk of being stepped on by my colleagues.

~~~
nicholasjbs
In the three most recent offices I've needed to nap in, I napped: Sitting on a
sofa with my head back against the wall; lying down on an oversized bean-bag
cushion; in a computer chair, with my butt moved towards the front of it and
my head back against the top of the back (the back wasn't tall enough unless I
scootched forward). The last was obviously the least comfortable.

In general, I've found the biggest obstacles are social (i.e., people think
you're lazy), not logistical. But these are largely gone for me now that I'm
running my own company. My cofounder and I have vowed to not just tell any
future employees that napping is acceptable, but to actually keep doing it, so
they see that we're serious and feel comfortable napping themselves should
they want to.

I'd recommend telling your coworkers/boss that napping makes you more
productive, and that you only take one 20-minute nap a day. If they're silly
and care about exact minutes worked, just show up a few minutes early or start
a bit later.

~~~
marcinw
When it comes to the social stigma of taking a nap at work, just ask if they'd
prefer you take a smoke break every hour. Usually, people will get the hint.
If not, too bad.

~~~
alanning
Former coworker of mine used to take, "non-smoking breaks". I always thought
that was clever. Now I feel bad for never telling him so...

~~~
afterburner
I used to go for frequent walks... people assumed I smoked.

------
palebluedot
Here is a way to generate simple, wonderful pink noise (with a slight tremolo)
from the commandline, if you have sox installed. It somewhat mimics the sounds
of waves on a beach - I find it very relaxing.

A nice side affect (and the reason I played around with it originally) is that
it helps mask tinnitus when it gets too annoying (I find that if tinnitus
flares up too loud, it can make it more difficult to fall asleep).

The cmdline:

    
    
      play -t sl -r48000 -c2 - synth -1 pinknoise tremolo .1 40 <  /dev/zero

~~~
shmerl
Here is one for Star Trek fans:

    
    
      play -c2 -n synth whitenoise band -n 100 24 band -n 300 100 gain +20

~~~
jamesgeck0
Halfway down the page on <http://www.reallifecomics.com> , there's an hour
long loop of this, complete with the random computer blip noises.

------
pmr_
The lark and owl distinction has been driving me crazy since I thought about
my sleeping habits. I spent about 2 years with completely self-determined
sleep (I even collected sleep data) and do not even approximately fit into
those schemes. I alternate between a lot of sleep and no sleep over the course
of 10 days continually shifting my waking hours into the night until I reset.
Some people claim that this would be unhealthy, but (measured by
introspection) I felt good and haven't been sick during that time. And I have
spoken to some people that feel similar.

While all this is not based on anything that can withstand analysis, it adds a
strange flavor to advice when it starts with broad categories which seem not
entirely correct.

~~~
botker
Same here. I've been allowing myself to sleep pretty much whenever I feel like
it for the past several months, and I don't appear to have any sleep pattern.
Sometimes I sleep 3 or 4 hours, and wake up feeling well-rested and ready to
get back to work; other times I'll sleep 12 hours at a stretch. It's
irrespective of the 24-hour day. After reading your comment, I'm going to
start logging my sleep, to see if there's any noticeable pattern. Thanks.

~~~
zcid
If you removed artificial lighting (including computer screens, tv, etc) from
your life between sunset and sunrise, I can almost guarantee your sleep would
fall into a pattern. Artificial light wrecks havoc on our automatic systems
and stops our internal clocks from properly tracking time.

I highly recommend you try this for a month. Have a set time (say, 10-12PM)
after which you will be able to get 8 hours of sleep and declare that blackout
time: no lights, candles, tvs, computers, phones, etc. You will be amazed when
within that month you aquire the ability to go to sleep and wake at the same
times each day.

~~~
botker
I have a hunch that you might be absolutely right. But it's unclear to me
whether following this advice would improve my quality of life. Right now I'm
productive, working whenever I can without respect to the clock. Limiting my
productivity just so I can conform to an Earth day seems like it could be
counterproductive.

------
omgsean
I've tried this so many times but I just can't fall asleep in the middle of
the day unless I'm seriously exhausted. Anyone out there able to beat the
"can't fall asleep unless conditions are perfect" curse?

~~~
nicholasjbs
What worked for me was to build up gradually over time. I started only napping
when I was very tired, in my bed, with the lights off. Even then it took
practice before my body learned to fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time.

Then I started napping with the lights on, and then when I wasn't super tired.

Today, I can fall asleep quickly in a chair in a noisy office.

------
jjcm
Twenty minute naps leave me in a horrid state of disarray. It takes me about
an hour to recover from the grogginess, so I tend to stay as far away from
them as possible. I've experimented with time and location variations, but
never with any success. It makes me sad, because I know tons of people who
work naps into their day with fantastic results.

~~~
eric-hu
Other sources I've read suggest that around 15 minutes of sleep is optimal,
and going over puts you into a different phase of sleep. Perhaps you have an
easier time falling asleep than others.

When I try to nap, I'm pretty sure it takes ~5 minutes to doze off usually,
but sometimes even more than that.

~~~
ams6110
I have not tried this, but have read about this technique: When you start your
nap, hold something in your hand that will make a noise if you drop it. As
your body relaxes and you start to sleep, you will eventually relax your grip
enough that the object will fall to the floor and wake you up. This happens at
just about the ideal wake time for a short power nap.

~~~
danieldk
That's a nice trick.

During meditation retreats, I often fell asleep during the first morning
sessions. My teacher said that this was ok, but gave me comparable tip if I
wanted to stay awake: meditate standing, when falling asleep, your body will
always wake up in moments to stay balanced.

------
juliano_q
Sadly, here in Brazil when I tell someone that I _need_ a nap in the afternoon
to be really productive almost everyone says "You are lazy" or something like
that. I have worked in a single company that I had some time to take a 15-20
minutes nap in the afternoon and the boost in my productivity was simply
outstanding.

~~~
crazygringo
Believe me, it's not just Brazil!

~~~
bh42222
Not even in Spain or Portugal? My last hope...

~~~
cycojesus
head over to Vietnam, post-lunch nap is still widespread there.

------
Edootjuh
Some tips on how to get white noise.

\- Obviously you can set a radio between channels, but I often don't have a
radio in the room but do have a computer, so...

\- In linux, if you have ALSA installed, you can type

    
    
        cat /dev/urandom | aplay -f cd
    

in the console, or

    
    
        cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp
    

for OSS

\- On the internet, there's <http://simplynoise.com/>

------
brc
My Dad always took powernaps and still does. He has the ability to sit down in
just about any reasonably comfortable chair, and go to sleep on command. He
can then wake up 5, 15, or 30 minutes later and be fully alert. Noise, light,
temperature - doesn't worry him.

He laughs about it but it's got to be a skill built up over years by
practicing.

The one trick he did teach me for a mid-day nap was to lie on your back on the
floor and put your legs up on a chair (calf muscles on the seat, feet against
the backrest). For some reason it really seems to help, I assume it's
circulation related.

------
danko
I'm glad that this provides scientific justification for that napping danger
zone between 45 and 90 minutes. Having taken naps that have ended in that
precarious time span, I can attest that it _feels_ like you're worse off than
when you started.

~~~
sliverstorm
Not just feels. Definitely worse, it puts me off-beat for the rest of the day
and I always feel like I suddenly desperately need a shower.

~~~
mattgreenrocks
Yeah, I'm not sure where the sensation of needing to shower comes
from...perhaps from sweat?

~~~
mirkules
Not the OP, but my experience is similar. I shower in the mornings, so I think
for me it's more of an association of "wake up = shower"

------
gnosis
There's been so much well-publicized research on the positive impact of sleep
on performance, and hugely detrimental effect of not getting enough sleep.

Why do so many companies still force their employees to work with so little
sleep? Why do they still frown at sleeping on the job? And why don't more of
them provide cots, sofas and showers, when they can easily afford them?

For decades, some of the more enlightened companies have been providing in-
company cafeterias, laundry, fridges and microwaves in office kitchens, and
other amenities so that employees don't feel like they need to leave the
workplace as much. You'd think these companies would recognize that providing
sleeping facilities is the next logical step. Why don't they?

~~~
glanch
The obvious answer: Employees who need extra sleep during the day should
simply sleep longer during the night so they won't need to sleep while they're
at work. At least, that's the typical view of the employer.

------
danso
Has anyone ever used phone apps that purport to wake you up at the right time
by using the accelerometer to detect how much you're moving in your sleep?

Example: <http://www.sleepcycle.com/>

I've used this but only for a few times because it requires the phone to be
activated all night, which makes it quite warm in the morning. But it seemed
to make me less groggy...but I can't tell if that's just confirmation bias...

I haven't thought of using it for just 45 min spans though

~~~
cburgas
I'm using it for nearly a year now. Its really nice if the app can wake you up
while you are in light sleep but sometimes you are just not in that phase
during the 30min period the app tries to wake you in.

So worst case is that you wake up the same way you would with a normal alarm
clock, but on the other days its pretty neat.

But the 30% battery charge I lose overnight is sometimes a hassle because my
phone is either near the 30% right before I want to go to bed or I know that I
have no time to charge it in the morning... and I refuse to charge the phone
while its laying next to me :)

~~~
j45
I got a long iphone cable from dealextreme and it comes onto my bed just fine
to charge. Not sure if you had a different reservation :)

------
kcima
Not everyone sleeps in the same way. After a doctor suggested I do an
overnight sleep study, I found out that I often reach REM within 5 to 10
minutes.

Taking even a 15 minute nap in my car right after lunch completely boosts my
creative thinking and problem solving ability.

------
j45
First time I'm seeing this, thanks for sharing.

Where it mentions a nap makes stage 2 sleep, I know my ability to nap can
depend on how quickly I can fall asleep.

I've found meditating for 5-10 minutes even at my desk offers a similar result
to napping, without the nap-hangover/grogginess.

The feeling? Like when we wake up, fresh, clear minded, focused, settled and
ready to go.

~~~
nvk
I get the same results out of meditation, but if im going out at night or have
to be at an event, i like taking a 30-40 min nap before getting ready, makes
me be back to 100% till late.

~~~
philwelch
The "disco nap".

------
janus
I've found 15-20 minutes naps after having lunch, to be amazing. I can wake up
really quickly and being fully alert to keep working, without any drowsiness
or performance hits.

I wish I could wake up with the same mood in the morning. I find it really
hard to even wake up without putting the alarm in snooze at least twice.

~~~
darylteo
ONLY twice?

I set my alarms at 8, and I snooze it till 8:30.

~~~
mkopinsky
Why not set your alarm for 8:25? I've found that the time snoozing is just
time that makes me feel guilty. Make realistic goals, and then stick to it
rather than ruining your last half hour of sleep with noise and guilt.

~~~
samspot
On the contrary I greatly enjoy my snoozing time. When I wake up in the
morning i'm at my most comfortable, and drifting off to sleep is nice. Plus I
get that weird dream continuation thing going :)

------
lawnchair_larry
It amazes me that people can "nap". I can only nap when extremely tired, and
at that point, I'm so behind on sleep that 20 minutes won't do a thing. I'll
be lucky to wake up, and if I do, I'll be just as groggy. :)

------
zafka
I usually get one nap a week on Sunday afternoons for about 3 hours. I find
that I feel more creative and ambitious in the period after this nap than at
any other time in the week. While it is feasible to add one more day to my nap
schedule, I have yet to do it. I am rather much looking forward to when my
schedule will allow for a daily nap.

------
adnam
I'm a big fan of siestas. I even put my _pyjamas_ on to nap.

------
BasDirks
I am lucky: I work in the village I grew up in. When I am too tired I tell my
boss: "I am not productive, I am going home to sleep, I will work the
remaining hours of the day at home after I wake up." My bed is then a 3 minute
bicycle ride away.

On a more helpful note: I learned how to nap by having siesta when I helped
someone build a house in the South of France. A mid-day nap there was common,
even for those in the public sector. They reasoned that in summer it was just
too hot too work.

I would do my napping where ever I'd like: the grass, a garden chair, a
leather sofa. It took about 2 weeks to actually "get" it, but it did my body
good. Sometimes I skipped a day because I wanted to read or w/e, but I'd still
take my moment of rest.

------
thetrendycyborg
Finally! I was wondering how to do this!

On a real note, napping changed my life. And when I had my own business, it
really helped productivity to have a nap in the middle of the day. Now I work
for the machine, and naps are unfortunately not allowed.

~~~
bh42222
_Now I work for the machine, and naps are unfortunately not allowed._

OK, here's a crazy idea!

I work for the machine, MOST of us work for the machine. Unions are in our
past. But government might just be the way to force the machine to support
naps for its workers.

If we start lobbying for a law to allow naps, how realistic is it for that to
pass? Sure it's silly, but silly laws usually have a better chance of passing!

~~~
botker
While I'm a big fan of naps, I'm not a big fan of government. It's not their
job to legislate when we sleep, and the Law of Unintended Consequences assures
that it would be a disaster.

A better approach is to start your own business, and incorporate naps into the
company culture.

------
mhartl
This "nap wheel" is useful for finding the right time to nap:

<http://www.saramednick.com/htmls/book/napwheel.htm>

------
jhancock
Good info. I learned this years ago from my great-grandmother. She took a nap
every afternoon for 20 to 25 minutes.

Now, living in Chengdu, office workers here are encouraged to nap after lunch
time, around 2. At my wife's office, there is a chime followed by soft music
twice a day, reminding workers its time for a break to do eye exercise,
something they teach or at least used to teach in Chinese elementary school.
Many offices in Chengdu also have a tea break around 4 ;)

------
cr4zy
When I went to Bolivia, everyone went home for a 2 to 3 hour after lunch. All
businesses would close. The work day started at 7AM and ended at 6PM IIRC.

Apparently, this is most popular in warmer countries. Nap aka siesta times
correspond with the hottest and most dangerous parts of the day in terms of UV
radiation. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siesta>

------
cl8ton
Glad to see others power nap also, I thought I was just weird.

My routine is at about 1:30 slouch in my chair leaning back with my hands atop
my head with fingers inter locked.

Whats strange is that I don't really goto sleep. I can hear everything going
on around me but my mind is just totally blank and not focused on anything.

I stay like this for around 15-20 min then snap out of it fully refreshed!

------
Archio
I've adjusted recently to have 1.5 hour naps in the middle of the day (I'm a
college student), so then I can go to bed at around 1 AM and wake up at 7:30
AM, and be well-rested and awake the entire day.

It's almost like taking the nap in the middle day gives my brain a "restart"
so it's refreshed and prepared to focus the rest of the night.

------
n_coats
It's interesting to note the immediate difference between a short nap (less
than 45 mins) and one longer. I've never heard the pre nap coffee suggestions!
I take naps frequently and hate when I over sleep or wake up from one longer
than an hour and a half due to the groggy/grumpy side effects.

Really interesting and insightful piece!

~~~
huhtenberg
> hate when I over sleep

Try this - immediately before closing your eyes say to yourself "I need to
wake up in 15 minutes". In _exactly_ 15 minutes you will feel a subtle mental
nudge that you need to act upon and open your eyes. You can as easily ignore
it, in which case you will go right back to sleep. YMMV, of course, but it
works for many people and it is seriously amazing.

~~~
Ixiaus
The body's own clock is _amazing_. I've done this to wake myself up in the
mornings successfully too!

I do it like this: when laying in bed right before falling asleep I imagine a
flip-card clock and the whole thing is spinning, just spinning, then I imagine
it stopping suddenly on the time that I want to wakeup. The really cool part
is when you _wake up at exactly that time_ the next morning with NO alarm
clocks!

------
itmag
Why is sleeping on the job frowned upon for programmers? I asked for it once
and was denied like it was some outlandish request. I thought _I_ was doing
_them_ a favor by asking (by wanting to raise my energy levels during the
midday slump).

It just reaffirmed that 9 to 5 culture is not for me.

------
tnorthcutt
I wish this was a higher-resolution image (or text... one can dream, right?).
It's awfully hard to read.

------
jacobr
I don't nap (yet), but we get relaxing 30 min massages every other week at
work. After that I'm a new person, and the thought of getting only a small
portion of that relaxation every day...

I have a colleague who regularly meditates, he simply grabs a free meeting
room.

------
blakestein
This whole time, I thought I had a sleeping problem because I couldn't fall
asleep until after 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. and I would get irritable and tired
from 3-6 p.m. Now if only that didn't clash with my work hours.

------
Freestyler_3
I read that using an alarm to wake you up is not good. The perfect sleeping
rithm is different from one person to another so I can't tell people how they
should sleep, there are people who can, they studied for it.

------
akeck
Another nap infographic...

[http://www.patioproductions.com/blog/wp-
content/upLoads/2011...](http://www.patioproductions.com/blog/wp-
content/upLoads/2011/Napping-ITDOnlineStores-101411.jpg)

------
jsemrau
Shameless plug:
[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/just15min/id471609083?ls=1...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/just15min/id471609083?ls=1&mt=8)

I wrote an iPhone app for this

------
davewingler
In Japan noone is allowed to nap much less sleep. I need to move.

------
noveltyaccount
How can I use this to better wake up in the morning, instead of groggy with
"sleep inertia"? Set an alarm 90 minutes before I want to wake up, plus one
when I want to wake up?

------
swombat
Here's my angle on this: <http://danieltenner.com/posts/0017-how-to-nap.html>

------
deepkut
Old, but interesting. I wonder if hackers nap more often?

------
perlpimp
What I do to fall take a nap or fall asleep is to focus on a point just
outside of my right temple, tension drops and mind rest for me faster that
way.

------
Edootjuh
I noticed that in the picture for 'owls' the best time to nap is 2 pm and
~3:15 pm, but the text says 'closer to 2:30 pm or 3 pm. Which is it?

------
tate
Pro tip I learned from the world of ultra-cycling (riding a bikes for days at
a time):

\- Drink coffee as you prepare to nap

\- Take 20 minute power nap as caffeine gets in your system

\- Win

------
sidcool
A 3 year old infographic rises from ashes...

------
kin
It takes me like 40 minutes to fall asleep for a nap. I'm much too alert
during the day after a full night's rest.

------
damontal
find a nearby hotel with meeting space, usually on a mezzanine level (easy if
you're in a city). these areas are often empty. find a comfy chair or couch
and nap with a manilla folder or book on your lap so you don't look like a
bum. set your phone to go off in 30 minutes.

------
g3orge
I really need that. Wallpaper-ed.

------
agbell
According to my zeo deep sleep usually starts way before 45 minutes into
sleep.

------
grigy
Doesn't this depend on person? I never had naps and don't feel like I need.

------
kin
but surely you can still dream in non REM sleep can't you?

------
chjj
I love naps.

------
BadassFractal
Is "nap" what they call coffee these days?

