Usually after work, or around lunchtime on weekends, if I’m sitting in my armchair watching TV, I get very drowsy. That’s not surprising, but when I do fall asleep it is very strong, but not deep sleep. Lasts only ten minutes or so, but feels like I’ve been zonked out forever. When I wake up my eyes are really bloodshot. (I thought that sitting up and sleeping with my head turned to the side, or resting on my fist, might be doing this, but then I remembered that sometimes this happens when I’m laying down.) The curious thing is that I’m really sweaty in the head, neck, and chest area. After I’ve been up for a little bit, I stop sweating, so it’s not just that the room is hot.
It’s the opposite of a refreshing nap, but it is strangely satisfying because of that.
I did this at work just the other day. Usually I eat lunch at my desk and listen to a portable CD player. If I finish early and have a few minutes, I’ll close my eyes and try to relax. I realized I had fallen asleep when I checked the CD I was listening to and couldn’t remember hearing 3 songs.
Yeah, I do this if I fall far enough behind on sleep. Come home from work, lay down on the couch, and pass out. Maybe not for only ten minutes, but an hour or so and it feels like way longer than that.
Sure. I don’t get sweaty and bloodshot. What I do do, however, that I don’t do anywhere else is snore. If I wake up after 15 minutes or so with a slightly sore throat and a feeling like a million bubbles are bursting inside my head, I know it was a good nap.
Anyway, those 15 minutes are generally worth more to me than 4 hours of real sleep. I think it has to do with placement. A night’s sleep is like carpet bombing fatigue. The power nap is more of a surgical strike.
