Self Awareness Test and How to Avoid Naps

Self Awareness Test

Take the Self Awareness Test Here! Fionna will review your results in depth in episode 5!

How to Avoid Naps

It feels like every week there is new data surrounding sleep and naps. If you are like me, you wonder if your long naps that last a couple of hours are good for you. It really just depends on your history with sleep, how much sleep you had last night and many other health factors.

This episode focuses on the bad of naps since naps make myself and many other people feel very tired and groggy. One reason why people wake up groggy is because of sleep inertia. This usually occurs when your naps are longer than 20-30 minutes. Studies show that shorter naps improve your cognitive functioning and will not throw off your sleep schedule. Long naps during the day will worsen your sleep at night. But I do want to remind readers and listeners that if you have insomnia or poor sleep in general, naps of any length might worsen these problems.

Not only will long naps leave you feeling groggy and make sleeping at night difficult, it will increase your risk of heart disease and death if you nap longer than one hour when you slept more than six hours the night before. If you do sleep insufficiently the night before, it is recommended that your nap remains under 30-45 minutes.

If that does not scare you enough, repetitive sleep deprivation will increase your risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and mental health. Some researchers have found that naps have also led to high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression and anxiety.

So here are some things to help you resist the urge of sleeping during the day:

Understand the health risks involved with long naps
Sleep the full 7-9 hours every night
- Same bed time and same wake up time
- Avoid sleeping in, even on the weekends
Keep distractions out of bed (includes books)
Set a consistent wake up time
- If you have insomnia, focus on the wake up time rather than a bed time
- Gradually move up your bedtime earlier by 15 minute increments
Set consistent, healthy mealtimes
- Finish meals 2-3 hours before bed time
Exercise (20-30 minutes a day)
Exposure to sunlight (30 minutes)
Declutter your schedule
Don’t go to bed until you are sleepy
Don’t nap late in the day
Create relaxing bedtime ritual
Avoid alcohol
See a sleep specialist

I highly recommend seeing a sleep specialist if you are having trouble with sleep and it is negatively impacting your daily life. Sleep disorders like sleep apnea can make you wake up feeling exhausted.

Disclaimer

This podcast includes explicit content, we discuss triggering material and are not mental health professionals. If you need immediate help please call the suicide hotline at 800-273-8255.