You’re in your college years, the days of all-nighters and caffeine pills. After all, you’re young, you’re fun, and you’re . . . probably sleep-deprived. Going to bed before 10 p.m. and taking afternoon naps might seem more like a nursing home regimen, but it can actually help you, too.
The fact that the word “restoration” includes the short word “rest” is no coincidence: Sleep is needed for recharging or restoring your physical, emotional, and spiritual health each day. If something crazy comes up and you stay out partying or stay up studying a night or two in a row, you’re accumulating sleep debt, and you need to pay back that debt. If you don’t, it might come after you like 1920s gangsters, and they don’t leave their debtors looking (or feeling) perky.
If you’re in the habit of getting significantly less than the 8 hours a night that adult bodies typically require in order to retain enough energy to last all day, you may feel like you “need” caffeine or other artificial stimulants to keep on going. Instead of promoting the temporary caffeine high that ends with a crash, you could consider taking an afternoon nap. Nope, they’re not just for the preschool set.
According to some medical professionals, you can strategically choose a napping length based on what you want or need to accomplish:
- 20-Minute “Power Nap” or Stage 2 Nap
This can help improve your alertness as well as motor skills such as playing musical instruments and typing.
- 30- to 60-Minute Slow-Wave Nap
These longer naps can improve your memory and increase your creativity as well as enhancing your decision-making skills.
- 60- to 90-Minute REM-Level Nap
This kind of sleep is key for creative problem-solving and learning new sets of skills.
If you do nap, the best time to do it is probably when you feel sleepy, usually between 2 and 4 p.m., half way between your wake time and bed time. If you have control over your class schedule, try not to plan for a pivotal course during that time, because, even if you don’t plan to take a nap, you might be too groggy to really focus on the subject matter in class.
In addition to bolstering your learning and studying abilities through napping, you can help your mind retain the information it’s received by studying what you need to know in the morning, right before you go to bed. This study-before-you-sleep idea has been studied since the 1920s and seems to make good scientific sense.
If your body is over-tired, you may still be able to stay awake all afternoon and into the wee hours of the morning, but your mind’s ability to think coherently and work effectively is greatly lessened. With a good night’s sleep, you’ll be more likely able to rise early and hit it hard, tomorrow. After a while, these healthy sleep habits can really make a difference in your life.
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