To Nap, Perchance to Dream

[groovedaddy]

The Pew Research Center has just published an interesting survey on naps and napping. It found that 34 percent of American adults had taken a nap in the past 24 hours. Men nap more than women, blacks more than whites and Hispanics, the unhappy more than the happy.

But we can’t help seeing a flaw in this survey, and we suspect, therefore, that it wasn’t written by a napper. For instance, instead of asking, “Have you napped in the past 24 hours?” Why not ask, “Do you nap often or regularly?” The Pew survey also examines the reasons Americans have trouble sleeping, as if trouble sleeping was the major precondition for a midday snooze. Regular nappers know that a good night’s sleep never precludes a good afternoon nap.

Something about the shape of this survey suggests — ever so slightly — that napping is aberrant behavior, a personal rebellion against workplace wakefulness. But how would the number of adult American nappers change if American businesses encouraged napping? If businesses knew, as all good nappers know, that a short nap is the best way to recharge yourself during the day?

We suspect the numbers would rise dramatically, proving that there is no hard and fast distinction between nappers and non-nappers, only a difference in opportunity. After all, napping is an entirely normal part of normal human sleep patterns. And studies have shown that short naps enhance alertness and productivity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/opinion/05wed4.html?th&emc=th

[MADem]

1. Most nappers I know are overjoyed. There's also a cultural bias at play here.

If you live in hot climates, it is natural to have your nap in the heat of the day, and use the early morn or late night to do the work that will kill you if you try it with the sun overhead. In some places, the store is closed from one p.m. to around three thirty or four o'clock as well. Business shuts down for the nap!

A nap in some places is a cultural necessity to survive in the culture.

[waiting for hope]

2. I love to take naps ....

Especially with something good on TV ... the dreams are funky!

[trotsky]

3. Great article, pointing out the biases like that.

Getting a little 15-30 minute nap after lunch is invigorating. When I lived within walking distance of work, I would go home for lunch, set my timer for 30 minutes, and catch some Zs. In the afternoon I was as focused and energetic as I was in the morning. Haven't had that option for years, and a lot of days you can really feel the tiredness sapping you in the afternoon.

Of course there's the other nap, the one you take on a rainy Saturday afternoon where you fall asleep at 1 and wake up at 3 or 4, totally out of it, and then you can't get to sleep until midnight (or later) that night. Those are counter-productive.

[mopinko]

4. if i can't have my dream come true-high school starts at noon, i would

settle for allowing a nap. teenagers need as much sleep as toddlers. nap time would solve so many problems.