UNITED STATES─Naps, I think they are God’s gift to those of us who are workaholics. I talk to people all the time about sleep, particularly getting quality sleep at night. Some people say I get 7 or 8 on average. I wish I could get 8 hours of sleep at night; it is indeed very rare for me to obtain that. I’m lucky if I get 6. However, I warn people if I have less than 6 hours of sleep you might want to steer clear of me for a few hours. Why? I’m very cranky.

My body can still function, but it takes me a bit of time to get the body in motion so that I’m fully awake versus if I were well rested. I’m a firm believer once you lose sleep you cannot get it back, even though so many people attempt to do it all the time, I’m not one of those people. So how do I keep my energy going or rejuvenate myself when I feel like I’m running on empty? I take a quick nap.

Yes, I take a nap during the day when possible. The key is that this is NOT always possible. Some days the work schedule is just too chaotic and the thought of getting a nap in just seems impossible. On the flip side there are those days where it is indeed so chaotic, I’m able to sneak away after work, school or family dramas and have 20-30 minutes to myself.

Yes, I’m serious 20-30 minutes are some of the best naps for a guy like me because I sometimes feel like I’m operating on 16-18 hours days and people just don’t get it. You’re not the only person I’m dealing with, you’re not the only person who has a question or needs help, give me a minute already. Having a 20 minute nap sometimes feels as if I slept 6-8 hours. I don’t know how my brain configures that notion, but that is how powerful some of those naps are.

I wake up to look at my watch and realize, “Whoa, I only slept 40 minutes, but it felt like I slept for hours.” That is a clear sign how powerful a nap is. It’s like your body was so overwhelmed it needed this brief moment of clarity; a brief shutdown so that you could rejuvenate for the rest of the day or the next 2-3 days. This is not me saying to substitute a nap for quality sleep, because it will not work. You still have to get rest for your body to be refreshed and ready to tackle work, school, family or any other things planned for the day.

Failure to sleep is never a good thing because you can crash and burn, and when you crash and burn it will put a major beating on your body and recovery is NOT easy people, not one single bit. I’ve tried it and you’ll place yourself in a situation where you’ll sleep 12-15 hours and that is not normal for me. So lesson learned. There are so many people who seem to think that naps are only for kids, but this is me telling you naps are for adults too and adults need them more than kids sometimes.