I have found that a Provigil/Nuvigil nap works wonders. Take a Provigil and take a nap. When you wake up you'll be crisp morning-fresh.
What is Provigil? (I am in Australia) Is it like dexedrine or something?
Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
51–60 of 163 posts
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#52I wish I was able to take naps. Do people can really fall asleep on command just like that when they have some spare minutes in their day? Shit, even when I am sleep deprived, I can barely fall asleep in my own bed, sometimes it literally take me hours. When I manage to take a nap it's usually involuntary by falling asleep in front of the TV.
It just takes practice. For a nap, it helps to unwind quickly by focusing on deep breathing and allowing your mind to wander.
During a nap you're not trying to lose consciousness as if you're "totally asleep" either. It's almost like you're hypnotizing yourself into a deep state of relaxation. A pair of sunglasses or sleep mask can also help to reduce any daytime light to make it easier.
Practice it for a year, you'll be an expert after that and have a highly valuable skill.
This guy has all you could ever hope to know on becoming a Master of Sleep: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#53Serious Question: What can I do where I really need to do this in the afternoon (and would of course really increase productivity), but I'm not allowed to nap at work?
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#54I wish I was able to take naps. Do people can really fall asleep on command just like that when they have some spare minutes in their day? Shit, even when I am sleep deprived, I can barely fall asleep in my own bed, sometimes it literally take me hours. When I manage to take a nap it's usually involuntary by falling asleep in front of the TV.
Have you tried 'paradoxical intention'? It's basically convincing yourself that the goal is to stay awake, instead of falling asleep. It gets rid of some of the performance anxiety surrounding falling asleep, and tends to force you to focus on something else (keeping awake). It has helped me in the past!
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#55Is there any downside to doing this? It seems like there must be a reason why the adenosine signals that it's time to sleep - like your brain actually needs that rest to recuperate properly after activity. Does a "coffee nap" (or caffeine in general) lead to increased fatigue once the effects wear off? Although I guess to some extent if you're going to ignore the sleep signal otherwise, there likely isn't much harm i…
Natural sleep cycles vary not just by person but also by age. There is some evidence that a small community with 0 to 70 year olds will always have someone awake. Which would seem like a likely survival adaptation. Which suggests sleep cycles may relate to more than just biological need.
I've read this before too, I cant remember where. Basically your 25-50 year old typically sleeps from about midnight to 8am. Teens and young adults typically sleep much later, with the "crack of dawn" not being uncommon and the elderly typically awake at the "crack of dawn".
Basically most preditors are active either just after dark, or in the late morning.
Teens are typically strong (a 13 year old male is as strong as your average adult female), alert and they have the best vision, and noise making in the night would keep predators and scavengers away. Evening predators likely weren't a great risk, but scavengers definitely would be an issue.
Adults are obviously the strongest and most alert, and are awake when the most dangerous animals are also awake: lions, tigers, hippos, etc.
The elderly are our weakest, their vision is poor and their alertness becomes questionable. However, there's theories we live so long after infertility sets in specifically for the reason they care for the young. Both infants and the elderly have surprisingly similar sleeping patterns. Predators are least active in the early mornings and so are most dangers. Insects and reptiles (venomous things) are least active in the coldest hours of the day, which is right around dawn.
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#56I have read this before. I do not understand how you can sleep for 20 minutes. It takes more than 15 minutes just to fall asleep.
If it's that hard to fall asleep, then you don't need a nap. Problem solved. Depending on their job, diet, exercise, age, etc., some people just really really really really need a 10-15 minute nap in the early afternoon to get through the rest of the day. The need comes over you quickly, and you either do it or spend the rest of the day struggling to stay awake and focused on your work. I don't think anyone is sugges…
Would be true yet there is this thing called insomnia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insomnia
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#57The Jawbone up is the BOMB of all bombs for taking naps. Put it in nap mode and it waits for you to fall asleep before setting the alarm. So you can get a proper nap without wondering whether you're taking too long to fall asleep, etc.
It can also attempt to time your nap based on your latest sleep patterns. No idea how effective this is.
I love this thing just for it's nap mode.
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#58After a couple months of protracted late nights at a startup I worked for, I came up with an idea for a place which would offer by-the-hour nap+shower+coffee pods. You'd go in, pay $20 or whatever, have access to a shower and a bed, and at the end (or beginning) you'd get a coffee of your choice (if after, it would be ready for you when your nap was over). I think this could do really well in Soma or the Financial Di…
I don't live in SF but I think this would be viable. I'd even use it when I was in town.
I think you'd also get customers from people who bike to work or workout at lunch but don't have access to a shower (assuming the location was good).
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#59After a couple months of protracted late nights at a startup I worked for, I came up with an idea for a place which would offer by-the-hour nap+shower+coffee pods. You'd go in, pay $20 or whatever, have access to a shower and a bed, and at the end (or beginning) you'd get a coffee of your choice (if after, it would be ready for you when your nap was over). I think this could do really well in Soma or the Financial Di…
So like a love hotel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_hotel), but sans coupling. Or like a capsule hotel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel), but with attached shower.
Even on non-prime real-estate (which does that exist in SF?), I don't think you could hit your $20 price point with the amount of housekeeping needed for a bed and shower. Even if you could, after a week your staff might hate you. :-)
Re: Coffee naps are better than coffee or naps alone
#60It's hard for me to just take a nap on command in the middle of the day. I wish it was easy for me because a nap would help a lot.