The House passing the Sunshine Protection Act (SPA!) has me thinking about one of my favorite topics: sleep. The origins of the movement were noble — to stop the nonsense of changing the clocks twice a year with spring forward in March and fall back in November. Where SPA goes wrong, though, is making Daylight Saving Time permanent, instead of Standard Time permanent, which is what most sleep experts advocated for. As an avowed night owl you might think I wouldn’t care, but I always stand firmly (or in this case, sleep soundly) with science! And the science unequivocally says that Standard Time better aligns with our natural circadian rhythm. It also better aligns with the rhythm of most school and work hours. Luckily, there is the marvelous invention of the nap. And as it turns out, if it’s well-placed in the day, a nap can be restorative without upsetting our delicate circadian rhythm. EatingWell (my other favorite topic!) just spoke with Danielle Smiley, RDN, LDN, CD-N, who said that the “ideal window” for a nap is between 1 and 3pm, before expounding on the benefits of naps in general.
Alertness & Productivity: Napping during your body’s natural afternoon energy dip may help reduce sleep pressure—the biological drive to sleep that builds the longer you’re awake—so you wake up feeling more alert and mentally refreshed. Smiley explains that naps are best viewed as a recovery tool, not a replacement for quality nighttime sleep. “When they’re timed well, they can support energy, cognitive performance and overall quality of life,” she says. Research suggests that even a brief 10- to 30-minute afternoon nap may improve alertness, processing speed and mood while reducing feelings of sleepiness. Researchers believe that these benefits occur because a short nap gives the brain an opportunity to recover from mental fatigue without allowing enough time to enter the deeper stages of sleep that often leave people feeling groggy.
Memory & Learning: This may be surprising, but your brain stays busy while you sleep—even during a short nap. Rather than simply resting, it’s strengthening the neural connections that support learning and memory. Research suggests that sleep helps transfer newly learned information from short-term to long-term memory, making it easier to remember what you’ve learned while preparing your brain to take in new information. Research also suggests that naps around 30 minutes may improve memory encoding, helping you better absorb and retain new information. This may be especially beneficial for students, shift workers or anyone tackling mentally demanding tasks, as a brief afternoon nap may help support learning and recall for the remainder of the day.
A boost to physical recovery: Naps don’t just benefit your brain—they may also help your body recover. During sleep, your body shifts into a restorative state, which directs energy toward repairing tissues, replenishing energy stores and supporting the release of hormones involved in muscle recovery and physical repair. Even a brief daytime nap may help to reduce the feelings of physical fatigue, allowing your body to recover after exercise or other physically demanding activities. In fact, research suggests that daytime naps may support physical recovery and performance, including strength, endurance and reaction time. According to Smiley, this may make naps especially beneficial for people with physically demanding jobs or active lifestyles.
“Research suggests that sleep helps transfer newly learned information from short-term to long-term memory…” Well, now we know why I have the memory of an elephant! I’m not merely sleeping (excessively), I’m uploading valuable data into my permanent memory files, thankyouverymuch. My one major question after reading this article is: how do I make a nap happen at work? My day job hours are 10am to 6pm, with an hour for lunch. Obviously I could cut my lunch in half and nap for 30 minutes then (though I’d dearly miss dining with “the ladies who lunch,” as we call ourselves). That solves the time issue, but I’d still have a space problem, as my office is not big enough to lounge in, nor is there really anywhere else on the premises where I could curl up for some quick zzz’s. Well, that’s not exactly true. We do have a gloriously comfortable couch… that’s in the reception area, so anyone coming off the elevator would be greeted by my unconscious supine form.
I feel like my best/only option for napping during the workday is to learn how Gandalf managed to sleep with his eyes open. But I have to figure something out, because right now I’m in the habit of crashing when I get home and that is definitely messing up my circadian rhythm. And we already have a tenuous relationship.
Photos credit: Vitaly Gariev, Meruyert Gonullu and Kaboompics on Pexels
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