#micro naps

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

You ever get so tired

That you blink, forget to open your eyes again, and don't even notice for, like, 15 minutes?

Yeah. Me too.

[lyburnum]

[mentalisttraceur]

Can you elaborate on your micro nap situation? I wanna learn. How its done and the pros and cons. Please

The basics are as simple as you could imagine: I lay down or otherwise get into a comfortable position, set alarm for 15 minutes from now, then I doze off.

I do that whenever I feel like I need sleep but don't want or can't afford a longer sleep.

When alarm goes off I normally feel more awake and alert, and I definitely feel more awake and alert than if I did a longer nap, since my body didn't have time to go into deep sleep. (There's a lot of science you can look up on this - brain goes through cycles when it sleeps, shallow then deep then shallow again, and it normally doesn't go deep until over 20 minutes into sleep.)

I try to immediately get up and be active for at least the next 15 minutes - if I feel awake and alert after those 15 minutes, great, keep going, otherwise I might give myself another 15 minute nap.

Experiment with the nap length. I started with 20 minute naps because that's a common time people mention online. Later I brought it down to 15 and that seems to work well for me. I suspect that the optimal nap time is relative to:

how sleepy you are (more sleepy means more sleep might be good, but also that you might need to nap less to not overshoot into beginnings of deep sleep) and

how used to such naps your body is (i suspect my body tries to optimize to squeeze more different sleep in a shorter time interval, so 15 minutes becomes more optimal to not go too deep, but if I'm mostly having normal full night sleeps and rarely leaning on these small naps, it maybe tries to reset and conserve other resources or maximize other benefits by taking longer, so 20 minutes starts to be better).

I don't do it regularly, I don't replace all or most of my regular night-time sleep with small naps. But sometimes I stay awake through the night, or don't get much sleep, and in those cases I might lean on 15 minute naps pretty heavily.

Falling asleep reliably and quickly is its own skill, and if you can't already do that, this might not work for you. But usually if I'm doing this, it's because I'm very sleepy, so if I just don't sabotage the natural falling asleep process my mind tries to do, I tend to go down pretty fast. But that might also be partly because my body learned to do these fast naps. It does feel like I can fall asleep a little bit faster now.

I don't even put my phone away, just keep it in my hand and put it somewhere comfortable and where it won't slip away. (If I'm worried about theft because of where I am, I might also put the hand holding my phone somewhere that it's hard to quickly or imperceptibly grab and pull away, like tucked into my jacket or pocket or under my torso or fold my arms with the phone-holding hand between the other arm and my body.)

Couple dumb basic tricks which don't really matter:

If you're using an alarm clock function, remember that if it's 12:15 now and you set the alarm to 12:35, plus you'll be taking more than zero seconds to fall asleep, so you'd only get 19 minutes and change of sleep, not a full 20 - so for example I always set my alarm 21 minutes ahead if I want 20 minutes of sleep, or 16 ahead if I want 15.

Your phone or whatever might have a timer function that's easier to set up than the alarm - since it might be easier to set a timer for 15 minutes than do the math in your head for when now + 15 minutes is to set an alarm.

P.S. I am currently feeling some resistance to locking in the term "micro naps", because that seems too close to "micro sleeps", which usually have durations of a second or less.

(Warning! messing with your sleep like this could have bad effects on your health and on your ability to do things safely and with due diligence - I'm not going to get into the health, legal, or ethical risks in this post, mostly because I am not even aware of all of them because I am neither a doctor nor a lawyer, let alone one specialized in these areas, but in the worst cases I could imagine, some medical conditions might interact poorly with trying to do this, and in some situations having too little sleep could cause or significantly increase probability of death or injury and might count as criminal negligence because of this.)

[pansyb3lle]

Suffering the consequences of benadryl.....

[mommamumblings]

Prevent Sneaky Car Naps

Does your child fall asleep briefly in the car and then wake up the moment you arrive home? Does he act like that ten minute snooze replaces a two-hour nap? This is common, and it makes you wonder if that catnap is really enough sleep. It’s not! And here’s why:

Understanding Micro-Naps

According to the biology of sleep, micro-naps can absolutely disrupt your child’s nap routine. When your child falls asleep for even five to ten minutes, she may wake up feeling refreshed and not be able to fall back asleep. This is because the very first stage of sleep that takes place in as little as five minutes can reduce feelings of sleepiness.

The problem with these brief micro-naps is that they can eliminate tiredness at that particular moment, but they don’t give your child the important benefits that the other sleep stages provide. Getting an adequate amount of sleep helps reduce fussiness and replenishes energy while allowing the brain to process everything it has learned that day so far. A micro-nap can’t accomplish that.

A series of days when micro-naps take the place of real naps can quickly lead to fussy, whiny days where your little one is more prone to frustration and tantrums.

Car Seat Naps

Some babies easily fall asleep in their car seat, and it’s tempting to leave there in the seat for the duration of the nap. This isn’t wise, as studies show that some babies (especially those who are newborn, premature or sick) who take long, unsupervised naps in car seats appear to be at risk for breathing blockage or SIDS.

There will be times when you’ll have a long drive and your baby will take a nice, long nap en route. This is nothing to worry about – as long as your car seat is installed correctly and inclined back enough suitable for your baby’s age (check your car seat instructions or the manufacturer’s website.) If no one is in the backseat with your baby have a mirror set up so that you can keep an eye on your child. When you can, break up a long journey so that you can stop and take your baby out of his seat from time to time when he is awake.

Avoiding Sneaky Car Naps

It can be difficult to prevent short car catnaps, but here are a few quick tips to avoid the micro-naps and give your child the quality rest that they need.

Try to schedule your day around naptime or bedtime when possible. A quick trip to the store will probably work better after naptime anyway!

Keep the mood in the car upbeat and entertaining. Play upbeat music, sing along, have engaging conversations, & play games.

If your child is looking sleepy in the car, head home as soon as you can & head right up for nap once you arrive!

Source

[rendez-voudrais]

This is so goood

[micronaps-blog]

MICRO NAPS - Anthem From The Void Pieces of a shadow I am broken, make me whole again breathe new life, a sacrifice or maybe I just need a friend Every person, every dream, I plead insanity Left alone for too long, if I'm a problem I'll be gone And there are times when it's okay but I'm a person, I'm not a place I can't let these things pass through me without keeping something for myself Every person, every dream, I plead insanity Left alone for too long, if I'm a problem I'll be gone.

[zoding]

from an old PD CDR