Guide to Better Napping

Merlin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:55:29 -0400

I'm a big fan of napping and often evangelize the transformative power of a quick Pzizz. If you're new to the nap habit -- or if you buy the propaganda that naps are only for infants and layabouts -- treat yourself to this cool infographic from The Boston Globe (shown in part above).

[via Arts & Letters Daily]

It's full of handy tips for learning when you're most likely benefit from a nap, how long to snooze, as well as what you can do to improve your environment for good sleep.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I've heard it before: napping shouldn't require a guide and software. But an astonishing number of people I've talked to just can't bring themselves to sleep during the day (and many sleep poorly at night as well). As a marginally sleep-deprived Dad, I'm all for anything that helps people get rested and refreshed, and the advice in this little guide comports with everything I've learned about making naps work.

Happy napping.

”Guide to Better Napping” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on June 17, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Napstyles of the Rich & Famous

Merlin — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:26:08 -0400

My pal, Penney, once told me that when she was a kid, and her family went on vacation, they would "drop the spoon" every afternoon. I knew this was a cousin of the disco nap, but I never knew it was a purported invention of Salvador Dalí, (according to QuestionSwap):

Lie down or sit in comfy seat holding a spoon in your fingertips. you should be holding it in a way that - when you loose consciousness (sleep) you drop it... the Clatter (put a big plate on the floor under your hand) will wake you.... and you get woken JUST as you enter the best "dreamy" bit of your sleep.

Related (though pretty insane, if you're asking me) is the notorious "Thomas Edison Nap," which, repeated through the day, is intended to stand in lieu of an actual solid night's sleep (and which seems to have partly inspired some of the polyphasic sleep ~~nutjobs~~ proponents). Edison is said to have naturally needed less sleep in a day, and seldom slept very much in a given stretch, claiming that excessive sleep was a sign of laziness -- and yet:

[His] co-workers noted that Edison actually slept far more than he would like to admit. Clearly, he would carry sleeping little as a badge of honor. He catnapped a lot, and his nap cots have been preserved to this day in Edison museums.

But -- being a layabout and lardbrick of some considerable renown -- Your Author finds himself much more attracted to the other end of the spectrum, where we find the "Winston Churchill Nap." This is something I first learned about from mathowie, and which the great man describes himself:

You must sleep some time between lunch and dinner, and no half-way measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That’s what I always do. Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to accomplish more.

Yeah. That's more my speed. Winston knew how to nap.

”Napstyles of the Rich & Famous” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on September 26, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"