Is it good to nap everyday ?

[GraceGFitbit]

In general I'm a bad sleeper. Recently, take naps become an habit for me. At the beginning I felt great then my nap went from 1 hour to two or three hours 😬. Worst, in the night I don't sleep well. 

In fact, I just realized long or irregular napping can negatively affect your sleep. Sleep in the daytime can confuse your body and having you awake more time when is time to go sleep in the night. I started to sleep better during the day than in the night.

How long should be a power nap ? Personally, I don't feel like 20 min are enough for a nap. 😅

What do you think ?  

[WavyDavey]

Hi @GraceGFitbit,

That's a really good question. I've tried about all lengths of naps, from 10 minutes to an hour. For me, the longer ones, and ones after 3pm will make me feel groggy and interfere with sleeping later at night. Some people do like to take 1 hour naps because those longer ones can allow us to get into REM sleep stage.

The research I've seen is undecided about naps. Some articles say they're not beneficial, others say they're good for health, memory and creativity. Some say longer naps are better, some say shorter are better. I think each person has to go with their instincts and try different lengths to see what works best. With fast-paced lifestyles, it's easy to not get enough sleep, so wherever we can work sleep in, seems like a good thing. I do find that napping works very well when done on a regular basis, and try to work in 1-2 naps of 20 minutes duration daily. 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/napping/art-20048319

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/napping-may-not-be-such-a-no-no

This study is a long read, but has a lot of detail about different kind of naps.

Sweet dreams!

[GraceGFitbit]

Hey @WavyDavey ! Many thanks for sharing all this information with me, it was very informative. 

I been trying to do shorter naps or none some days and I'm sleeping better. Not enough yet but still trying. 😅

I have to say that all the information I been reading motivates me to put more attention and trying to do better. 

I will keep you updated. Have a nice day !