The Pitfalls of Napping 2
Grogginess
For all its benefits, napping isn’t without its drawbacks, chief among them, grogginess.
Post-nap grogginess manifests in different ways. Sometimes it might follow a late-in-the-day nap. It could also be the result of napping for too long (a.k.a. “sleeping”) and waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle.
Whatever the cause, I find grogginess of any sort to be phenomenally unenjoyable, as do those around/close to me (typically, my family): I just don’t handle it well. I didn’t sleep well two nights ago and was more than a bit cranky yesterday, when I found myself falling asleep on the couch while watching The Addams Family with my older daughter, who found this satisfactory while also being disappointed to not be watching the Netflix series Wednesday. Anyway, this wound up turning into about 60 minutes untimed, and while this was longer than I’d typically set a timer for, I think it’s fair to say that I needed it (my family would confirm this) — and at the end of the day, I woke up fresh as a daisy.
This isn’t the only pitfall of napping, but I believe it’s the most pervasive, and I believe the simple (not easy) solution is threefold:
Get enough quality sleep at night
Nap at the right time of day
Set a timer to ensure you stay in the “nap” zone and don’t find yourself in a “sleep”
Again, simple but not necessarily easy. More to come re timed vs. untimed naps.