Naps / Sleep Schedule

The Angus Sleep Schedule

I have what some would consider to be a crazy, weird, interesting, different, perplexing, *insert whatever adjective you would like* sleep schedule.  Yet for me, it works.  Well most of the time at least.

I'm generally not a morning person.  I have a tendency to become a late night owl if left to my own devices.  My schedule will slowly shift until I'm up till 3am even if I have to get up at 7am.  I'm not sure if this is just my intrinsic body clock or if my brain is just geared towards evenings.

Don't get me wrong.  I love sleep.  As someone once said, "Sleep is where I'm a viking."  I think she meant that she's a good sleeper.  Anyhoo, I operate on a get up when I have to for obligations and nap when I'm sleepy.   Get up and continue my day until its time for "bed" which consists of anytime after midnight.

With all of this rambling said, lets move onto naps.

I'm pro nap and I think research is starting to support my long held belief that naps are healthy and increase productivity and happiness.  You can google the research as I don't want this post to become too academic just yet.

Two things, I've learned:  waking up groggy from a nap defeats the purpose of a nap so there are only three kinds of naps that work.

a) Short, no rem sleep nap.  Keep it under 30mins and for the most part you won't get into REM sleep which is what causes you to be groggy if you wake up in the middle of rem.  Obviously its different for every person but 30mins is a pretty safe starting point.  Adjust accordingly.

b) 1 rem cycle - approximately 3 hours.  This requires a bit more of a commitment. You have to be OK with giving up 3 hours of your day for a nap but hey if you're a late night owl like me it works.  I usually take this 3 hour nap when i need it from 5pm to 8pm after work.  Then its time to get up make dinner and start my evening.

c) I'm going to take a nap oh crap i just slept for an obscene amount of time and its the next day nap.
This happens occasionally.  Its probably healthy in the long run as it just means that you my friend needed sleep and hey you got it. 


For those of you bold enough to step out of the oh I'm going to get 7 hours of sleep at night and that's it ( well i know some of you subscribe to something from 5 to 9 every day but you know what i mean) I suggest giving naps a try.  You might just find that you're healthier, happier, more productive and efficient.  Happy sleeping!