I genuinely don’t understand how people can nap during a 20 minute break. I need two hours just to consider falling asleep. Unless I’m trying to stay alert, at which point I’ll crash immediately, but only as long as I don’t actively try to lie down and sleep.
I don’t trust anybody who can shut down on command to not be an infiltrated cyborg.
I was a flight attendant in my early 20s. I had no set schedule and often worked really early or really late paired with multiple takeoffs and landings made sleeping on command a necessity. I can usually fall asleep within 10-15 minutes. Faster with airplane engine noise.
I’ve heard the same from a lot of ex-military folks.
My personal experience is if you try to nap every afternoon consistently at the same time, your body gets used to the schedule which allows you to get to sleep faster.
If I’m really exhausted and feel like I’m gonna die but still have to work, I’ve found that a 15-minute nap is amazing for “taking the edge off” so I can become functional again. If I’m stressed enough I can even have some lucid dreaming happen, or awareness of my surroundings even tho I’m asleep (like sleep paralysis) which is almost as fun. Under normal circumstances, yeah it’s hard to nap in under 20 minutes but I bet it’d become easier if I made it a habit.
My Japanese friends can all tap out and rejoin with what seems like on-demand sleep in any position or location for as short as a three minute window to nap. It’s like some form of advanced meditation or self-hypnosis. I don’t get it and I’m so jealous.
You don’t have to be fully asleep for a nap to be restorative. Even if you just lay there with your thoughts (NOT YOUR PHONE!) for 15-30 minutes it can be very beneficial.
See, that I can do just fine. I haven’t heard an alarm clock in decades. Even if I have to wake up at like 4 AM for an early flight I will typically just wake up 30 minutes earlier and check the time. I still set an alarm just in case, but I can just… wake up at the same hour every day naturally (even before sunrise) and fairly reliably early at unusual times.
But falling asleep on command? That’s science fiction.
When I worked nights I actually ended up having to create some buffer time before falling asleep. Otherwise it was all work-related nightmares every time, all the time. Sure, I was working from home as well, so people who commute back from their night jobs may get that for free, but still.
I got really good at it in college, since I worked the morning shift at FedEx from 2-8, then had classes all day. If I didn’t develop the ability to get a nap in between classes I’d never have been able to pay attention. Can’t do it anymore though - it might’ve been that I was just exhausted enough back then to sleep on command, or maybe it’s just easier when you’re young.
I don’t know why, but if I’m sleepy I can fall asleep in a few minutes, and will automatically wake up in either 15 minutes or an hour. I went on a long road trip with a friend, and that freaked him out 🙂. Maybe I’m a cyborg and don’t even know it 🤖.
Maybe that’s something to work on and consider why you struggle to sleep. Given sleep is so important in life, maybe you’d feel some substantial improvements all round with better sleep?
Struggling to nap and struggling to sleep are two very different things. I have no problem sleeping, but I would never be able to muster a nap during a break at work, even if I had access to my own bedroom.
I genuinely don’t understand how people can nap during a 20 minute break. I need two hours just to consider falling asleep. Unless I’m trying to stay alert, at which point I’ll crash immediately, but only as long as I don’t actively try to lie down and sleep.
I don’t trust anybody who can shut down on command to not be an infiltrated cyborg.
I was a flight attendant in my early 20s. I had no set schedule and often worked really early or really late paired with multiple takeoffs and landings made sleeping on command a necessity. I can usually fall asleep within 10-15 minutes. Faster with airplane engine noise.
I’ve heard the same from a lot of ex-military folks.
My personal experience is if you try to nap every afternoon consistently at the same time, your body gets used to the schedule which allows you to get to sleep faster.
So why doesn’t that work for sleeping at night
It does. Going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every day helps you fall asleep faster and sleep better.
If I’m really exhausted and feel like I’m gonna die but still have to work, I’ve found that a 15-minute nap is amazing for “taking the edge off” so I can become functional again. If I’m stressed enough I can even have some lucid dreaming happen, or awareness of my surroundings even tho I’m asleep (like sleep paralysis) which is almost as fun. Under normal circumstances, yeah it’s hard to nap in under 20 minutes but I bet it’d become easier if I made it a habit.
My Japanese friends can all tap out and rejoin with what seems like on-demand sleep in any position or location for as short as a three minute window to nap. It’s like some form of advanced meditation or self-hypnosis. I don’t get it and I’m so jealous.
You don’t have to be fully asleep for a nap to be restorative. Even if you just lay there with your thoughts (NOT YOUR PHONE!) for 15-30 minutes it can be very beneficial.
I did it all the time working nights. Just close your eyes and konk out. But set an alarm.
See, that I can do just fine. I haven’t heard an alarm clock in decades. Even if I have to wake up at like 4 AM for an early flight I will typically just wake up 30 minutes earlier and check the time. I still set an alarm just in case, but I can just… wake up at the same hour every day naturally (even before sunrise) and fairly reliably early at unusual times.
But falling asleep on command? That’s science fiction.
When I worked nights I actually ended up having to create some buffer time before falling asleep. Otherwise it was all work-related nightmares every time, all the time. Sure, I was working from home as well, so people who commute back from their night jobs may get that for free, but still.
I got really good at it in college, since I worked the morning shift at FedEx from 2-8, then had classes all day. If I didn’t develop the ability to get a nap in between classes I’d never have been able to pay attention. Can’t do it anymore though - it might’ve been that I was just exhausted enough back then to sleep on command, or maybe it’s just easier when you’re young.
I don’t know why, but if I’m sleepy I can fall asleep in a few minutes, and will automatically wake up in either 15 minutes or an hour. I went on a long road trip with a friend, and that freaked him out 🙂. Maybe I’m a cyborg and don’t even know it 🤖.
Maybe that’s something to work on and consider why you struggle to sleep. Given sleep is so important in life, maybe you’d feel some substantial improvements all round with better sleep?
Struggling to nap and struggling to sleep are two very different things. I have no problem sleeping, but I would never be able to muster a nap during a break at work, even if I had access to my own bedroom.