Have you ever looked over at someone (perhaps a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed work colleague, or a continually chipper friend) and found yourself scratching your head at their incredible ability to get things done? Chances are: that person is a napper.
It’s easy to dismiss those who put their head down from time to time as being overtired, lazy or seeking an easy escape from a task they’d ideally like to avoid; however, in reality the people who make an active effort to catch a brief forty winks (or ten winks, if you will) every day are doing the right thing when it comes to getting things done.
So why are people who take a nap so highly productive? Here’s a list of six reasons why they can get so much done.
1. They Don’t Suffer The Pangs Of Stress As Much As You Do
More often than not, those who we consider to be the more laid-back people in life are the ones who have absolutely no reservations whatsoever about sneaking in a quick nap at any time, in any place. This isn’t a coincidence – science actually has the napper’s back.
Research has shown that those who take a daily nap for just fifteen minutes actually have half the amount of cortisol bumping around in their system than non-nappers do. Cortisol is essentially our stress hormone. The less of this stuff that’s raging around in our bodies, the much more relaxed we’re likely to feel.
2. They Have Got Better Memories
It might be tempting to assume that those who doze off for half an hour every day are missing out on life, but in later years they’re going to remember a heck of a lot more than a person who stays awake from the moment they clamber out of bed in the morning. German researchers have determined that napping for as little as 45 minutes a day can actually improve your cognitive ability and memory skills by up to five times their original amount. If that isn’t enough of an incentive to snooze on your lunch, then what is?
3. They Are More Alert
That’s right, the serial nappers aren’t such a lazy crowd after all. In fact, they probably have way more energy and capability to complete tasks to a high standard than you do.
According the National Sleep Foundation, napping can actually increase a sense of alertness in human beings. The more alert you are, the more you get done, and the less mistakes you make. That can’t be such a bad thing, can it?
4. They Refuse To Get Burnt Out
When you find yourself barely able to move, after throwing every last ounce of energy you have at the mountainous pile of work on your desk, it’s tough looking over the other side of the office to see your colleague whistling merrily and walking with a spring in his step. They’ve been under the same kind of pressure as you, so why aren’t they feeling these effects in the same way? The answer is that you’ve burnt yourself out, and they haven’t. Your colleague has avoided turning into a shuffling zombie simply by taking a cheeky fifteen minutes every day, just resting their eyes for a little bit.
Getting burnt out is extremely dangerous for you health, so take a leaf out of the napper’s’ playbook and lie down once in a while. You’ll soon begin to feel the beneficial effects.
5. They Are Low-Maintenance
Turns out that the term “beauty sleep” wasn’t plucked from thin air after all.
That’s right, grabbing some shut-eye during the day has actually been proven to prevent premature aging, aid cell repair, and ultimately improve your appearance overall. The protein produced during nap-time helps to mend skin, muscle, and tissue damage. This means that sneaking in a cheeky little nap will ultimate lead to you looking your best and feeling your best every single day, thus reducing time spent on maintaining your appearance.
6. They Have Their Emotions Under Control
Hormones are a funny thing. These molecules are basically in charge of our emotional states. When they’re out of whack, boy oh boy, do we feel the effects.
Another huge benefit of napping is the way in which it helps to regulate hormones and keep them in check, allowing us to remain in a balanced emotional state. Two of our hunger hormones, named grhenlin and leptin, are susceptible to falling out of order. When they do, our first port of call is the refrigerator — as our appetites abruptly spike. Taking a nap helps to keep these pesky hormones in line, preventing us from getting distracted by our emotions, and the kind of unnecessary snacking that piles on the pounds!
Featured photo credit: WarmSleepy, Flickr via flickr.com
