Saturday, December 21, 2013
The nap cycle
The nap cycle is when you take a nap after a long day of school, work, or just really tired. Now, don't get me wrong, naps are great. The problem with naps is when you have no control of how long you nap, and you end up sleeping for 3 to 4 hours. Falling asleep at night is nearly impossible. You toss and turn, and before you know it, it’s late. By the time you fall asleep, it's 2 or 3 a.m. The following day you're even more tired than you were the previous day, when you took the nap. This is where the cycle comes into play. If you don’t have any will power, you'll take your daily 3 to 4 hour power nap. This usually means sacrificing homework, or other things that might seem meaningless because you're so tired. This has to be one of the most annoying cycles to get out of. It's hard to get out of it as well. For starters, you'll need to find the motivation to stay awake after school, struggling to keep you're eyes open. You can try to stay awake by listening to loud music, or watching TV, but both will at times make you even more tired. You could even try to move the nap to a later time, and sleep until the next morning, but this may not be that easy. You could find yourself waking up at 10 or 11 p.m., and staying awake until the next morning. I think the best way not to get stuck in a nap cycle is to not take a nap. If that doesn’t work for you, then try setting your alarm clock giving yourself a 15 or 30 minute nap.
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This is so true! This happens with me mostly during the breaks. I tend to nap during the break the most because theres a higher chance of having nothing to do. Unfortunately this only results with me staying up way longer than I usually do. Thankfully I work very early in morning during the weekend so this kinda helps me balance my sleep by sleeping in earlier the night of. But sadly, that only lasts for those 2 days :(
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I did that yesterday ! I slept 3 hours during the day and could not sleep at night ! I believe I finally fell asleep at 4 am and woke up at 9. I remember last summer I got into the bad habit of actually sleeping during the day and being up all night ! it was awful.
ReplyDeleteI take naps all the time and they always tend to be 3 hours long. I can’t help it. Even if I would set my alarm for a power nap (30 minutes), I would most likely shut the alarm when it goes off then go back to sleep. My sleeping cycle is so messed up but the good thing is that I am still able to easily fall asleep at night. Lucky me.
ReplyDeleteI hardly ever take naps especially on weekdays because like you said it just messes not only that day but the next few days it sucks. I hate the days where your tired all day long and once you lay down for the night your wide awake! now that is a real pain!
ReplyDeleteI agree with taking a 20 to 30 min nap after school. i actually do that every day, i find that my work effort goes up if i sleep a little. Sometimes i take like 4 hour naps and that just wastes the day and i cant sleep at night, Great blog chris
ReplyDeleteI feel you, sometimes you just cant seem to control. This has been especially true with exams just passing by. Late nights of studying cause me to be tired and groggy the next day and I actually found my self sleeping during my chem exam. Thanks the heavens someone texted me. Not only does napping mess up your sleep cycle but it messes with your body's hormonal cycle as well as digestive tract. I must say the worst is partying so hard that you on the last day of your vacation and you realize that this is the same table that I as just eating breakfast at and now the sun is setting... what a waste of a day.
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