Considering the volume of work done during the day and the increase in hours, even if it is optional or compulsory, maintaining energy balance is not easy. How much better it would be if we, like a computer, could refresh ourselves by clicking a button in the middle of the day, restarting everything, and continuing to work. Fortunately, there is a button or at least a mechanism that can do the same thing and that is short-term sleep.
According to scientific evidence, a short nap or a nap is a great way to supplement the amount of energy we need during the day. Guy Meadows, a London-based sleep physiologist, and co-founder of Sleep School say: It’s a chemical, it starts. ”
He adds: “The more we stay awake, the more adenosine accumulates in our brains and makes us feel sleepy.”
When we have short sleep, the amount of adenosine decreases, and less, the amount enters our system. It helps to increase our energy levels and causes us to feel more alert and mentally present.
“It helps us improve our mood and makes us do things faster, reduces our mistakes, and increases our focus on what we do after lunch.”
The benefits mentioned by Meadows come from a short nap of 10 to 20 minutes per day. Dream researcher Sarah Madnick has written a book called “Take a Short Sleep and Change Your Life,” which says: You need more sleep, “said David Cook, chief of The Christian Science Monitor’s Washington bureau.
Madnick has been researching the effects of sleep for over 20 years, adding: “Long and short sleep, lasting five to eight minutes, put us into a deep sleep phase.” That is, it is like a night’s sleep, and therefore this period of afternoon sleep is as beneficial as a night’s sleep. ”
Get used to short sleep:
While it may not be possible for everyone to get an hour or half an hour of sleep during the day, it is best to focus on getting some sleep. As Guy Meadows puts it, short sleep is like swimming or cycling: a skill that requires practice but is acquired in the short term without much effort.
“If you want to get into the habit of short-term sleep, in the first few days you have to set yourself a clock to wake you up in a short time and not stay asleep. Go to bed and after three months you get used to it. ”
It is important not to force yourself to sleep, but just lie down in bed or in a comfortable chair or any other quiet place, darken the room, or use a mask to cover the eyes and try to enjoy the relaxing moment. It is recommended not to look at your mobile phone or read emails for five minutes before going to bed, take slow breaths and drink some water if necessary. In short, sleep peacefully.
Sleep without paying attention:
Some people say that it is impossible to fall asleep easily and it is almost impossible to fall asleep for 5 minutes in the middle of the day, but most of the time, according to Guy Meadows, we fall asleep without thinking.
When people were awakened from the first stage of sleep, of course, from a short sleep, 65 percent said they hadn’t slept at all, but that wasn’t the case. “It shows that we don’t really know if we’re asleep or not. . ”
Another benefit of sleep is that your eyes are closed for 5 to 6 minutes. Short-term sleep is beneficial for those who have never had a sleep problem before and those who have insomnia.
If you do not want to feel depressed and tired after waking up, you should not shorten your sleep.
Other ways:
The advice that can be found on many different internet sites is to drink a cup of coffee before bed because the effect of caffeine starts 20 minutes after drinking coffee, this is the time when we wake up.
But according to Sarah Mandick, that advice is by no means a good idea.
The idea of sleep is to regenerate our energy naturally. “Afternoon coffee is bad for sleep.”
Sarah Mendic and colleagues compared the effect of 200 mg of caffeine (a cup of coffee) on memory in 2008 with a short sleep of 60-90 minutes. Afternoon sleep generally improves memory function, caffeine either has no effect or had a negative effect on memory.
Sarah Mandick also found that those who are not accustomed to short sleep have a lower level of mental alertness.
“People like or hate short-term sleep,” he says. “For some, it’s a great way to get some rest and rest, but some people think a short nap is not a good way to relax.”
Sarah Mandick advises people who do not like short-term sleep to try other ways, such as walking, sports, and self-care.
