Ever felt like dozing off at your desk? Turns out, a small nap can have a big upside. WH tracked down four science-backed reasons you should power nap today.
1. It can help you persevere through frustrating tasks. We’re looking at you, tax return/car insurance/anything involving a three-tab excel spreadsheet. A study in Personality and Individual Differences found that study participants who took a nap were more likely to persist with a task than non-nappers. “Napping may be a beneficial intervention for individuals who may be required to remain awake for long periods of time by enhancing the ability to persevere through difficult or frustrating tasks,” said the study’s lead author Jennifer Goldschmied.
2. It helps boost your immune system when you’ve had a bad night’s sleep. Bye, niggling cold. A study in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found a 30-minute nap can reverse the hormonal impact of a night of poor sleep. “This is the first study that found napping could restore biomarkers of neuroendocrine and immune health to normal levels,” said study co-author Dr Brice Faraut.
3. It improves memory. Neuropsychologists at Saarland University found that even a short sleep lasting 45 to 60 minutes produces a five-fold improvement in info retrieval from memory. In their study, participants who had a nap were able to remember word pairs better than those who had watched a DVD instead. Seems a short sleep wins over your box set of Suits.
4. It can help your heart. A Greek study found that midday naps can lower blood pressure levels and may probably also decrease the number of antihypertensive medications. Lunchtime siesta, anyone?
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