Author: Steven Aitchison (399 Articles)
The owner of this blog. Proud father, doting husband, blogger, hire me as freelance writer, and addiction worker
Micronaps – Increasing your productivity
I have been practicing micronapping for a while now but didn’t really
think it was unusual until a colleague mentioned it to me. I work a lot
between all the jobs and voluntary work I have and get about 5 hours sleep. I
am tired a lot so often take a micronap to refresh me.
What is a micronap?
You may have already experienced a micronap without realising it. It’s
those moments when you doze off for a few moments, 2-5 minutes, and wake up
with a start. It has happened to me in meetings, and I have woken up
with a start thinking ‘Christ!I hope nobody noticed me’, meanwhile
somebody has posted a picture of me drooling, on the company intranet. You
know the moments I mean.
Micronapping is a scheduled event and everybody can do it no matter what their
schedule is.
How to micronap
When you feel you need a micronap just schedule 5 minutes away from everyone,
I usually go home for lunch so I micronap there, however when I can’t
go home I use the toilet to take a micronap.
Sit on the toilet, lean back and just close your eyes safe in the knowledge
that if you fall asleep nobody will see you. The beauty of micronapping
is that your mind is still alert to the fact that you have only got 5 minutes
so it won’t fall fully asleep. You will be drifting between consciousness
and unconsciousness (which is what sleep is).
It may sound as if this wouldn’t help but it really does. What
is happening is that your brain is sinking to an alpha state, which is sleep
cycle where your brain is operating at 7-14 cycles per second, and coming back
to your waking beta state, which operates at 14-13 cycles per second. Read
more about the sleeping
states here
Alpha states are the states which meditators and people who are relaxed fall
into. It is the state in which creativity occurs and is the state in
which we typically daydream. It has a realxing effect on the brain and
slows it down to rest.
Benefits of micronapping
- I have found micronapping good for sleep deprived headaches, if I’ve
not had enough sleep I get a slight headache and micronapping is great for
this. - I have found I am more alert after a micronap
- You can take as many as you need without really being missed, I usually
take about 2 per day. - Micronapping allows me to get by on about 5 hours of sleeep without feeling
any detrimental effects. - It can be done almost anywhere, in the car, in the toilet, in the house,
any room that you will not be disturbed for 5 minutes or so.
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I think micro nap will be sufficient enough to remove sleep deprived headaches, but I am not sure if 5 min. will be enough. Lack of sleep will make it easy for us to fall asleep and at the same time hard for us to wake up.
I have also found micronapping good for sleep deprived headaches. i often doze off, I donot for how long(may be 1 min or 1 hr), gut it is refreshing
Hmm.. I like the idea to take a micronap.
I also sleep 5 hrs a day.
I normally use brain enhancement music to give me the energy I need to complete my work and project.
I have post my experience about how this brain enhancement music work for me in terms of energy and ability to visualize:-
http://secretofunlimitedprosperity.com/10/law-of-attraction-the-secret-of-attraction-accelerator/
I agree that it’s good for sleep deprived headaches, but I don’t think it’s still effective for anyone who got 3-4 hours of sleep. In that condition, a little sleep will surely make you want to sleep more.
I just wonder what people think you are doing for all those 5 min breaks in the toilet!
I like the idea of micronapping.
At times I do doze of at my desk for a few minutes (I work at home
). I get an average of 4-5 hours of sleep and it is interupted most of the time. If I try to take an hour to rest in the afternoon, it never works. Maybe I should put more emphasis on the 5 minute breaks.
Thanks for the tip!
Mico napping works pretty well but don’t know if I’m just as alert as if I had 8 hours of sleep.
Time to take a micronap!
Your article on micro-naps caused me to remember that I often lay down on my bed for brief periods of time to refresh myself before going on with my day. Sometimes I then doze off for a while as well. But just resting for short periods of time can be quite rejuvenating! — Pat
I’ve tried micronapping sometimes but when I’m really tired, I lack the motivation to wake up from my micronap, and I end up sleeping for at least a few hours.
Well, I don`t know about scheduled micronaps, but when I get too tired, I often have a little doze at my computer. However, I also have a longer nap in the middle of the day with my kids (2-2.5 hours) so I can work most of the night (getting about 3 hours a night). That, combined with micronapping has made it possible for me to work when the rest of the family is asleep, without sacrificing too much kid time.