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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Naps: Endangered species in modern life?

TheStar.com - The modern world killed off the nap

What a bouquet of coincidence.

My Make column on napping is overdue, and yet right before dashing off to steal a rejuvenating 20-minute nap, I take a spin past del.icio.us/popular to find this little gem:

A good nap is one of life’s great pleasures, and the ability to nap is the sign of a well-balanced life. When we nap we snatch back control of our day from a mechanized, clock-driven society. We set aside the urgency imposed on us by the external world and get in touch with an internal rhythm that is millions of years old.

A nap distils the sweetness of a whole night’s sleep down to a few minutes. Ideally, it starts on a soft bed, in a dark room, with a warm blanket. At first your mind lingers on what you’ve done that day, and what you still need to do. Then your thoughts start to unravel a little, become less coherent, more dreamlike. You feel your breathing deepen, your body relax. You lose yourself; you’re asleep. After a few minutes you gradually become aware again of the bed, the room. You open your eyes, gather your thoughts, throw off the blankets. You’re a new person.

So nicely put. And, with that, Pzizz and I will say night night for now.

Norman's picture

I'm one who can take...

I’m one who can take it either way. About 3 times a week, I need a twenty minute nap in the mid-afternoon. About once a week, usually on the weekend, I take an hour nap in the afternoon. Usually this is at home watching football. But generally, 3 times a week I don’t need a nap at all.

It just depends on how the day has gone thus far and whether I need a chance to relax and “mind reboot” or not (nice phrase, btw).

 
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Inbox Zero

The original 43 Folders series looking at the skills, tools, and attitude needed to empty your email inbox — and then keep it that way. Don’t miss the free video of Merlin’s Inbox Zero presentation.

Making Time

3-part series on attention management for artists and makers. Read Bad Correspondence, The Job You Think You Have, and One Clear Line.