National Napping Day

We're two days after the Spring one hour time change.  Some of us are feeling great and some of us are feeling like we just can't catch up that lost hour of sleep.  Well, rest assured, today is National Napping Day.  And that's my kind of day.  It's raining and is just completely ugly outside and all I want to do is sleep.

In college, all I did was nap in my spare time.  And now in my adult life, I don't nap much at all. The only times I really nap are when I'm sick, reallllyyy bored, or after eating myself a mountain of Chinese food. 

We always hear there are so many benefits to getting a full night's sleep of at least 9 hours.  Ppppffftt.  Who does that, really?  With my work schedule, I'd have to go to bed at 9 pm to get those recommended 9 hours.   Although I love sleep, I also love my television and am not sacrificing tv time to go to bed early.  Sometimes, we're even eating dinner at 9.  So nope, not happening.

National Napping Day is a good way to raise awareness; that it's okay to take naps (which I totally need to start doing).  Our bodies need it.  Unfortunately for me, I don't have much time from getting home from work and going to bed.  Napping after work just can't go into the equation.  But...napping at work, would be a whole lot better, and that's something I think many would agree with.  Unfortunately, I don't think my employer would never go for that idea, let alone advocate it.  Maybe yours will though.

Reasons To Nap at Work:
from Huffington Post

-Napping keeps us alert.  A small Australian study showed that even after a 10 minute nap, participants felt alert.  Not sure if they actually were alert, but at least they felt they had a bit of a boost after that power nap. 
-Napping can improve memory and learning.  This is probably with longer, deeper naps though.  MRI scans have shown that brain activity remains higher with those that nap than those who don't.
-Napping helps creativity.  Researchers found that energy remains in the brain's right hemisphere, the side linked to creativity, during sleep.
-Napping makes us productive.  Without the right amount of sleep, we deteriorate throughout the day.  A 15 minute nap is enough of a boost to get us back to work.
-Napping can make us happy.  When I'm tired, I can be cranky and am not fun to be around.  I don't need research to say that sleeping can boost our moods.
-Napping helps relieve stress.  A nap is a good way to just forget about everything and to "escape" whatever stresses ails you. 

 Yup.  I think those are decent justifications to nap at work.  We, as sleep deprived human beings, need a way to recharge our bodies that caffiene just can't do on those long work days.   

As for me, I guess I'm stuck with catching a snooze as soon as I get home.  It's either that or excercise.  And the longer my sleep deprivation continues, the more I'm leading towards the first choice.  And it's all due to my love of television...