How does napping work its brain magic? “It may protect brain circuits from overuse until those neurons can consolidate what’s been learned about a procedure,” says Robert Stickgold, PhD, coauthor of the Harvard study. More from Prevention: 10 Tips To Get Your Best Night’s Sleep Unless you know the correct way to conduct a daytime doze, however, you could snooze and lose. “Napping can steal the drive for nighttime sleep, so you need to be cautious,” says David Neubauer, MD, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center. “The key is to nap early and short.” By “early” Dr. Neubauer means daylight hours, at least five hours before you plan on going to sleep that night (between 2 and 4 p.m. is prime). Any later and your circadian rhythms will kick in, possibly making you feel disoriented upon waking and likely preventing you from conking out come your regular bedtime. As for short, keep your naps to less than an hour; 20 to 30 minutes is enough for most people to get the benefits. To help stick to this nap-plan, stay out of the sack—likely not a problem at the office—since you associate your bed with long periods of rest. Find a quiet couch or carpeted floor where you can lie down. Even shutting your eyes in your office chair for 20 minutes will relax and refresh you. (That’s if you can stifle your phone; if not, find an unused conference room.) Home or work, you’ll find that—just like in kindergarten—after a nice restorative nap, you’ll play much better with others. More from Prevention: 4 Tips For Napping At Work
