Catnap While Working From Home: Will It Make You More Productive?

Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock: Take a nap whenever you can

Napping while working from home might boost your energy and make you more productive!

Social distancing has made us all slow, stagnant, unmotivated, and anxious. To soothe our stressed nerves, we have all learned the art of banana-bread baking. The biggest question is, with or without chocolate chips? Jokes aside, video-dating, working from home, and eating tinned food is definitely getting to our heads.

Sleeping has become our guilty pleasure. We try to avoid snoozing as much as possible in an attempt to do more throughout the day. But it turns out that having a daily power nap does no harm to your efficiency; instead, it is the answer to your misery!

We Are Genetically Engineered for A Mid-Day Nap

A competent nap can boost your mood, calm your nerves, and refresh your mind. All humans are genetically engineered to have a dip in alertness in the afternoon. Sure, a large latte with an extra shot of coffee can have you up and running in no time, but a good mid-day snooze can make you even more active and alert!

Nap at the Right Time

GBALLGIGGSPHOTO/Shutterstock: The best to take a nap is in the afternoon

A good snooze in the afternoon is the best. Still, you regret it when you wake up hours later, feeling cranky. Then, you stay wide awake during the early hours of the night, unable to sleep, and scrolling through social media aimlessly. This is why napping at the right time for a specific time is essential.

When you nod off and fall asleep for more than 20 minutes, you enter the REM stage, the inmost, deepest stage of slumber. It is when you wake up interrupting this stage that you feel irritated and sulky. A poorly timed nod-off can even make you feel sick!

A fruitful nap is when you are in the lightest, early stages of sleep. In this stage, you are aware of your surroundings; all your sensations are at work. Still, you are in a cozy, meditative, and relaxed state of mind.

Is Napping in the Bedroom Alright?

When you nap is also important, but you must know how and where to take your refresher. The natural dip in alertness in the afternoon that we talked about earlier occurs at around 2 to 3 PM.

Dmitrii D/Shutterstock: The right way to take a perfect nap

When you feel drained and need to power up, dim your lights, lower the temperature of your room, and get ready for bliss! But don’t get too comfortable or warm as that will make you sleep for longer than needed, which would decrease the quality of sleep at night. If you feel too stressed out, try some meditation before sleeping, play calming music, and think of the night sky!

Chill out, make some whipped coffee, and doze off! Social distancing does not sound too bad, does it?