How do you know you are the kind of tired where sleeping will help, and not the kind where you just have to get over it?
In the weekends or whenever I have a day off, I could sleep all day if I had the time. I’m usually energetic in the mornings, but in the afternoons…I’would do nothing but sleep, if I indulged myself. I sometimes have indulged myself by saying: “well, I probably need the sleep, then” . But sometimes, when I couldn’t afford to sleep, I forced myself to stay awake and then it was okay, too.
Can anyone point to some info on how to tell if you’ve got a sleep debt, and if napping would help? Experiments how to tell how much sleep one needs, and how to hack yourself into getting it on the most handy moments?
I don’t sleep well, so I’m tired all the time and naps really help. Really, the best thing to do is have a routine. If you typically wake up at a certain time during the week, it’s best to wake up at that time on the weekends. Note, I said “it’s best” but no one ever really does that. It does help try and get up around the same time every day. There’s also nothing wrong with power napping through the day too. If you woke up at, say, 8 AM and feeling sluggish by 3 PM, take a 30 minute nap. Set an alarm.
Here’s a good article on napping I find very useful. The easiest way to tell if you have sleep deprivation is ask yourself how you slept over the last few nights. If they’re pretty typical nights, then you most likely don’t have a sleep debt.