It is summer. The days are long. The temperatures are high and somewhere around two o'clock in the afternoon you feel it. That heavy, sluggish tiredness creeping over you.
Your first instinct is coffee. Another cup. Just push through.
But there is a better solution. One that is scientifically proven to work, is free, and gives your productivity a serious boost for the rest of the day.
A power nap.
Why you get tired in the afternoon
Your body has two peaks of sleepiness per day. A big one around midnight and a smaller one around two o'clock in the afternoon. That's not imagination, and it has nothing to do with what you ate.
It's in your biology. Your body temperature drops slightly after lunch, your alertness dips, and your body gives a subtle signal that it wants a little rest.
In summer, that effect is stronger. Heat makes your body extra tired. Your heart pumps harder to cool you down, your body works harder, and your energy runs out faster.
A power nap is exactly what your body is asking for at that moment.
What a power nap does
Sleeping for twenty minutes in the middle of the day restores your alertness, improves your focus, and boosts your energy for the rest of the afternoon.
You do not enter deep sleep during a twenty-minute power nap. That is not the goal either. You stay in the lighter sleep stages where your brain resets for a moment without completely drifting off.
Sleep for longer than thirty minutes? Then you do enter deep sleep and wake up groggy and confused. That feeling is called sleep inertia and it takes twenty to thirty minutes to wear off. Not ideal in the middle of the day.
Twenty minutes is the sweet spot. Long enough to recover, short enough to wake up refreshed.
What summer has to do with this
In summer, most people sleep less than usual. Longer daylight in the evening, warmer nights, later bedtimes. Your sleep debt builds up without you noticing.
A power nap is not a replacement for a good night's sleep, but it is the best way to make up for that accumulated fatigue during the day. Cultures around the Mediterranean have been doing this for centuries. Not because they are lazy, but because it works.
How to take a good power nap
Timing is everything. Nap between twelve and three o'clock in the afternoon. Later than that, and you disrupt your nighttime sleep because your sleep pressure, the feeling of sleepiness that builds throughout the day, is removed too early.
Set an alarm for twenty minutes.
Find a quiet, dark place. A blackout room, a couch with a blanket over your head, or just your car in a parking lot. It does not matter where, as long as it is dark and quiet.
Do not expect to fall asleep immediately. Even if you do not really sleep but just rest with your eyes closed, that already has a positive effect on your alertness.
The habit for this summer
Give yourself permission this summer to take a power nap when you feel tired around midday. Not as a sign of weakness, but as a smart use of how your body works.
Twenty minutes. Set the alarm. Close your eyes.
The rest of your afternoon will look different.
Every Night 1% Better.
Guy Veeke
PS. A power nap works best if you can fall asleep quickly. Anyone who also struggles with breathing or a blocked nose during the day will notice that a nose strip also helps during the day to relax faster and drift off: https://snoozeless.nl/products/transparante-neusstrips
