Recharge Your Batteries In 5 Steps
By: Eden Kunter
Tags: Power Nap, Medicine, Business Strategy, Sleeping, Sleep Disorders

Recharge Your Batteries In 5 Steps

Photo by Sinitta Leunen on Unsplash

Sleep is a way to recharge our brain to keep focused and creative. It plays a significant role in enhancing memory for newly learned information. Studies show that when you get a good sleep after studying, there is a better chance you will have higher grades in exams or crush that client Zoom meeting. Even though I mean “nocturnal sleep” as “sleep,” many studies claim that daytime naps could be as effective as nocturnal sleep for our body.

There is even a “Nap Center” in the middle of Spain, where the scientist investigates people’s daytime sleeps. Our professional nappers took their naps with the company’s nap schedule in soundproofed cabins, blue lighting, and head-phones playing relaxing soundtracks. Then, the researchers retrospectively analyzed the database and categorized them as their duration. Who would like to be a volunteer human subject there? I know I would… You are reading this; now I know you would too!

Elizabeth A. McDevitt and her team did some fantastic research in Cognition Lab at the University of California, Riverside, with volunteers. The study’s goal is to understand performance chance with daytime naps better and whether or not the nap is improvable. They even tested subjects for four weeks of nap practice or restriction to change the sleep and performance profiles.

Did you know you can be a pro at “napping” with practice?

Yes, you can. How strange is that! Like every other thing in life, you can be an expert on napping by practicing again and again. In fact, non-nappers usually eschew naps because they haven’t practiced enough.

Have you ever heard the term “power nap”? You probably had, tried a couple of times and gave up because you didn’t have a proper guide.

I am here to help!

So what is so special about sleeping? Let’s add a little bit of spice with nerd stuff to make it even more delicious!

As you might know, there are two types of sleep: Non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. NREM sleep is subcategorized as stages 1–2–3–4. Each one has its characteristics of brain wave patterns, muscle tones, and neuronal activities uncovered with electroencephalographic recordings. REM and NREM types alter cyclically in a period of sleep, which is still a study subject. However, we know that irregular cyclic alternations of these two stages led to sleep disorders.

One sleep episode generally starts with a short period of NREM stage 1, followed by step 2,3,4, and finally REM. NREM is approximately 80% of the sleep cycle, while REM is 20%. The average length of the first NREM-REM cycle is about 70–100 minutes. The following cycles tend to be longer. With every cycle, the duration of stages alters in a rhythm. The cycle repeats 4–5 times per night on average.

Here is an excellent example of the characteristic EEG activity of each of the four stages of NREM sleep. The arrow points to the K complex while the underlining shows two sleep spindles.

Spindles are classically defined as waxing-and-waning 10–16 Hz oscillations lasting 0.5–2 s. The GABAergic neurons in the highly interconnected thalamic reticular nucleus act as pacemakers and create a spindle generation. It is hypothesized that sleep spindles are essential for memory consolidation and learning abilities, maintaining a disconnection from the external environment. Individuals who achieve a new task during the day have a significantly higher density of sleep spindles in their sleep! Yet, they alter in location, frequency, and association with slow waves. And the physiological effect of this heterogeneity remains unclear.

You can see how waves change their frequency and amplitude forms during stages. Stage 3 is known for low frequency and high amplitude waves (known as delta waves) that make at least 20% of the brain activity. Stage 3 sleep is thought to be especially significant to overall restfulness.

In the research I mentioned above;

— Self-reported nappers (nap+) demonstrated perceptual learning with a nap. In contrast, self-reported non-nappers (nap−) showed no performance improvement with a nap. Naps need the practice to master!

— When nap+ and nap- individuals are combined in the same analysis, a nap benefited perceptual learning on the task.

— Nap+ group had approximately 31% more sleep spindle events during Stage 2 sleep compared to nap−.

What Is Power Napping?

Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash

A power nap is a short period of sleep to give our body a chance to recharge. Do you remember our preschool nap times? It’s similar but like a pro version.

A power nap’s short duration aims to prevent nappers from entering slow-wave sleep or known as “deep sleep.”

If you want to avoid deep sleep while taking your daytime nap, here are the 5 steps to do it:

1) Be consistent

Researches show that nap- people usually don’t benefit from a single nap. It takes time for the body to shape the architecture of daytime sleep.

2) Make the room dark

Nap in a dark room or wear an eye mask. Blocking out light helps trick the body through the lack of visual simulations, and you fall asleep faster.

3) Stay warm

Stay warm, yet not too warm as excess warmth could make you oversleep. Just take a blanket with you, as your body temperature will drop once you fall asleep.

4) Take a cup of coffee before the nap

Caffeine requires at least 20–30 minutes to take effect. Therefore, If you drink one cup of coffee before you nap, the effect will kick in just as you are waking. It calls a “stimulant nap.”

5) Set the alarm: This is the key point!

If you choose the stimulant nap, limit your duration to 20 minutes before the effect of caffeine kicks in.

If you choose a normal daytime power nap, limit your time to less than 45 minutes, as after 45 minutes, it is more likely to be caught by deep sleep.

However, if you desire to make it longer, make it between 90–120 minutes so you can pass the deep sleep and wake yourself up after the REM cycle.

Have a good sleep!