It seems teenagers feel tired almost all the time. Waking up early in the morning for school, studying all day long, doing extracurricular activities and hanging out with friends and family can wear anyone out, I know! Plus, the science of sleep (and that includes napping) says it’s entirely reasonable for the natural sleep patterns to change during adolescence, shifting towards later hours for going to bed and waking up.
Staying up late during weekdays and sleeping belated on the weekends affects your biological clock and the quality of your rest. Thus, you are prone to various sleep disorders and also depression; but the most visible and immediate effects are looking bad, feeling moody and performing poorly in school or other activities. Lack of sleep affects your ability to learn, concentrate and solve problems; it makes you more prone to acne, aggressive behavior, irritability, and anxiety. As if all of these are not enough, there’s also a high risk of becoming overweight because sleep deprivation usually leads to overeating.
So what can you do? Experts say you need 9 to 10 hours of sleep to perform at your best, but you just can’t seem to be able to get it! Luckily, there’s a trick that can help your brain and body: napping. And let me tell you why:
Napping means getting energy
Naps make you feel energized and ready to function properly. They improve your performances: you’ll be able to concentrate better and give your best to whatever you might be doing.
Naps restore vigilance
It’s usually in the early afternoon that you feel your vitality fading out: you get a bit sleepy and lose your focus. A quick nap will bring back your sharpness, and you’ll be amazed how much you can accomplish after only 20 – 30 minutes of good rest.
Naps improve your learning ability
Short naps (also known as “power naps”) are a common habit even at NASA. Several studies (including the one conducted by NASA) have shown that power naps improve the memory process of consolidation, which is a big help for anyone who wants to learn something new.
Napping prevents burnout
Burnout is a condition of our modern society always on the run, still trying to achieve more. It affects teenagers, in the same manner as it impacts adults. To prevent such a thing from happening to you, consider napping once, every day. It will save you from feeling frustrated and stressed.
Naps make you more productive
Maybe productivity is not the ultimate goal at this age, but it’s a means to an end. So you need to give your best to accomplish what you want, and napping can help you do this. Plus, taking a short nap in the afternoon will make you feel good, and that’s a perfect reason to make it a habit.
But here’s the trick: to be effective, the power nap shouldn’t be longer than 30 minutes. If you go over this particular time interval, you’ll wake up feeling groggy, and your performance will suffer. The experts say that the optimal nap should last precisely 26 minutes. The best time to take such a nap is during the afternoon: not too soon after you woke up, not to close to bedtime. And try to turn off electronic devices while taking a nap. Lie down on your comfortable mattress – if you don’t have one yet, visit Try Mattress’s website to find out which model suits you best – and enjoy half an hour of relaxation. Everything will seem different afterward.
The preceding was a sponsored post.