creative napping | Sex, Soup, and 2 Fisted Eating

google nap pod If the Google Corporation has nap pods and Japanese businessmen are paying to take naps in special nap stores, then napping is certainly worth a try for you and me. Here are a few more ideas to work those energy boosting minutes of down time into your day:

The Lunch Nap. If you work outside the home, use your lunch hour wisely. Pack a lunch so you can eat quickly and then close your eyes for a few minutes. If your work space lacks privacy, sleep in your car and set an alarm. I repeat, set an alarm.
The Carpool Nap. Arrive twenty minutes early to pick up the kids, put on sunglasses, and lean your seat back. If you’re worried about oversleeping, hold your keys in your hand and rest your hand on the steering wheel. When you drop your keys, the sound wakes you up and your nap is over. That or the sound of the honking horns when the pick up line is moving and you’re not.
The Coffee Nap. Caffeine takes about twenty minutes to affect the body, so that instant alertness you feel with your first sip of coffee in the morning is all in your head. That bean-brain delay is perfect for a Coffee Nap. Simply drink coffee and close your eyes for twenty minutes. The benefits of the coffee and the benefits of the nap will kick in together and leave you tap dancing through the rest of your day.

japanese nap store If you don’t like naps, there is another way to boost your energy: exercise. If you’re at home, clean a bathroom or carry things upstairs to put away or do some jumping jacks. If you’re at work, get yourself moving over your lunch or coffee break. Go for a walk, climb some stairs, or do a squat every time one coworker complains about another. (Unfortunately for some of you, that will equal about three hundred squats an hour.) Any kind of exercise will get your blood flowing, wake up your brain, and make you feel more energetic.

Whether you prefer napping or exercise, your body will be reset and ready to finish your day.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope. Acts 2:26 (NIV)

Naps are controversial. Some people love naps because naps boost your energy and creativity and make you feel refreshed and ready to finish the day. Some people hate naps because naps can sap what’s left of your motivation, leave you dragging, and make it hard to get to sleep at night. We’re going to define the energy boosting kind of naps as Sexy Naps. Sexy Naps are 10-30 minutes in length and therefore only involve light brain sleep, not REM sleep. If your 7-8 hours of sleep at night is your beauty sleep, a Sexy Nap is you “freshening up”.

But how, Katie? How do I take a Sexy Nap amidst my busy schedule and my unrelentingly present and needy children? Like all great problem solvers of history—such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Winston Churchill, who were habitual nap takers—we’re going to get creative. We should probably nap first, but we’ll press on.

The Play Nap. Little kids really like it when Mommy plays with them, so get down on the floor and play. Drive some cars, dress some dolls, do a puzzle, and work yourself into a horizontal position on the floor. After ten or fifteen minutes of play, inform your child that your car or doll or yourself is tired and is going to sleep for a few minutes, but they should win the race or meet the prince or finish the puzzle while your character self is sleeping. Close your eyes and hope for the best. Even if you’re drooling, most kids are happy that your body is next to theirs and they will play over and around you while you snooze. As for keeping your nap short, that’s a no brainer: they’re your kids. When have they ever left you alone for more than ten minutes.
The Episode Nap. Snuggle up on the sofa with your kids and put on an episode of a show they like. Lay your head back and close your eyes. The kids might wiggle and comment during the show, but you are resting and rest is good. Most kids will wake you up when it’s over to ask if they can watch another one. My husband has the Episode Nap perfected for Saturday afternoons. He lies on the floor with a pillow over his groin and falls asleep watching with our boys. When the show ends, he is invariably jumped upon (hence the pillow protection) and gets up ready for the rest of the day.

It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. Exodus 31:17 (NIV)

http://michaelhyatt.com/videos/the-value-of-naps-from-a-scientific-perspective?utm_source=Michael+Hyatt+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1cc5b87675-rssdaily2&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d1fa5823d7-1cc5b87675-251202785 The Value of Naps