I occasionally take daytime naps-usually when I am scheduled to go into work early and have a midday break of 3 hours or so. I don’t know why the hell I do that tho because I invariably wake up feeling even worse and more exhausted than I did before I took the nap. Today was the worst-even after a shower I still felt like the living dead.
So do naps help you or hurt you? Do you take a lot of them or avoid them?
Me + nap = braaaaaaaaaaaaaains…
I avoid them whenever possible. Bad things happen when I let myself nod off. Like, waking up at the very end of the bus route with the driver standing in the aisle yelling at me.
Naps just make things worse for me. I can’t just sleep for half an hour or an hour. I either have to sleep – I mean really sleep or I just feel like crap.
I love naps. A 20 minute nap after a day’s work and I’m perky again 
.
See, that would be a problem for me. I can’t just fall asleep on a whim. 20 minutes is, on average, what it would take me to just reach unconsciousness.
Well, the “timer,” such as it is, doesn’t start until you actually fall asleep. Maybe try 20 minutes and see if that makes a difference. The best nap time apparently varies considerably from individual to individual so you’ll probably have to experiment a bit to find what works for you.
I love to nap but it does make me a tad cranky. I wake up like an irritable child, pouty and blurry eyed.
eats the nearest Doper, shambles off in search of George A. Romero
If I lay down for a nap, I’ll be out for 3 to 4 hours. Therefore, I usually try to avoid them because hey, I’ve got things to do. Having said that, sometimes a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day just feels so damn gooooood!
And yes, I am a college student, as you may have guessed.
I’m incapable for napping for such a short time. If I fall asleep during the day, it’s because I’m tired.
About an hour if I’m really dragging perks me up like nipples in a snowstorm. Taking into account the ten minute ‘fall asleep’ time.
I love naps. 3 minute naps, 20 minute naps, 40 minute naps, 3 hour naps…anything more than that and I run the risk of a bad, bad headache and crankiness until I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep again.
A long nap leaves me feeling terrible.
If I can squeeze in a 20-30 minute nap between calls at work, I always feel much better.
I’ve actually trained myself to nap if I have some downtime. I can lie down and doze off pretty quickly. It makes all the difference in the world.
Since I had my twins I can slump down in a chair and nod off for a couple of 5-10 minute naps and feel refreshed. The only time I get zombie hangover is if it’s after a big meal.
That’s what I was going to come in here and say – without the science.
I swear I dream in my 30 minute catnaps, though. Or at least my brain goes some very weird places…
I just took a nap today for the first time in months, and I wish I hadn’t. I woke up tired, groggy and confused about the time (I thought it was morning for a few minutes). I think the rest of my evening was spoiled because I was such a zombie. And now that it’s time for bed, I don’t really feel like sleeping.
Naps are evil.
Definitely refresh me. I wish work had a nap room.
Hate them. They feel sooo god as you slip into sleep, but I wake up groggy and cranky and, yes, zombified.