This whole time, I thought I had a sleeping problem because I couldn't fall asleep until after 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. and I would get irritable and tired from 3-6 p.m. Now if only that didn't clash with my work hours.
How to nap
61–70 of 137 posts
Re: How to nap
#62This "nap wheel" is useful for finding the right time to nap:
Re: How to nap
#63Here is a way to generate simple, wonderful pink noise (with a slight tremolo) from the commandline, if you have sox installed. It somewhat mimics the sounds of waves on a beach - I find it very relaxing.
A nice side affect (and the reason I played around with it originally) is that it helps mask tinnitus when it gets too annoying (I find that if tinnitus flares up too loud, it can make it more difficult to fall asleep).
The cmdline:
play -t sl -r48000 -c2 - synth -1 pinknoise tremolo .1 40 Re: How to nap
#64I've tried this so many times but I just can't fall asleep in the middle of the day unless I'm seriously exhausted. Anyone out there able to beat the "can't fall asleep unless conditions are perfect" curse?
I've really struggled with sleep schedules recently (varying from getting up at 6am to 3pm within a week, due to various late-night engagements whilst trying to get up earlier).
I have found that setting an alarm and counting down from 10 to force myself out of bed unnaturally early has left me feeling really awake once showered and very dozy around mid-day. Time will tell if this is sustainable but it feels pretty amazing right now, far more productive hours (in amount and intensity) than when I was sleeping 8-9hours a night.
Re: How to nap
#65According to my zeo deep sleep usually starts way before 45 minutes into sleep.
Re: How to nap
#66I wish this was a higher-resolution image (or text... one can dream, right?). It's awfully hard to read.
Re: How to nap
#67I've tried this so many times but I just can't fall asleep in the middle of the day unless I'm seriously exhausted. Anyone out there able to beat the "can't fall asleep unless conditions are perfect" curse?
The 'sleep' part is not actually what's important. Just lie down in a quiet, dark place and close your eyes for 20 minutes, and you will gain a large portion of the same benefits that you'd have gained if you actually fell asleep.
Re: How to nap
#68Twenty minute naps leave me in a horrid state of disarray. It takes me about an hour to recover from the grogginess, so I tend to stay as far away from them as possible. I've experimented with time and location variations, but never with any success. It makes me sad, because I know tons of people who work naps into their day with fantastic results.
Yeah, same here, as long as you don't over-nap then it works good, try with shorter ones they really help a lot.
Re: How to nap
#69For those wondering how to nap at the office and not get hauled into the managers office for sleeping on the job, I paraphrase a tip from Scott Adams (Dilbert):
"Grab a handful of paperclips and find an office/meeting room. Shut the door and lie down on the ground with your feet against the door. Sprinkle the paperclips in front of you. Now have a nap.
If someone tries to enter the room, the door will hit your feet. This will naturally cause them to pause (and stops them entering), it wakes you up and lets you reach for the paperclips which gives you a ready excuse ("Oh sorry, I was just picking up the paperclips")"
:)
Re: How to nap
#70Twenty minute naps leave me in a horrid state of disarray. It takes me about an hour to recover from the grogginess, so I tend to stay as far away from them as possible. I've experimented with time and location variations, but never with any success. It makes me sad, because I know tons of people who work naps into their day with fantastic results.
Other sources I've read suggest that around 15 minutes of sleep is optimal, and going over puts you into a different phase of sleep. Perhaps you have an easier time falling asleep than others.
When I try to nap, I'm pretty sure it takes ~5 minutes to doze off usually, but sometimes even more than that.