I have discovered a new love... power naps. After severe exhaustion day in and day out from refusing to take even a moments time to rest when the kids would go down for a nap. I would get right to it... cleaning up, dusting, organizing, couponing, searching the ads, making a grocery list, mopping, bathrooms, preparing dinner, making beds, laundry, and the list goes on. It would come time for naps to be over and I would want to crawl into a little hole and sleep for weeks... I couldn't find it in me to finish out my day without being grumpy, short, and totally fried. SO... I did some research...
Studies show that if you can stay within the first two sleep cycles and you do not enter into a deep sleep, in cycle 3, then you can maximize "the benefits of sleep versus time" (Wikipedia). If you do enter into cycle 3 and fail to complete it, you will wake up feeling awful, groggy and pretty out of sorts. So, you wanna shoot for a 15-30 minute nap. Since it takes about 30 seconds for me, but around 3-5 minutes for most people to fall asleep, just set an alarm for 30 minutes after you lay down. The results... AMAZING!! Your body does not reap the benefits of a full nights sleep, but it feels very close to it. It has been found to be as good as a full nights sleep for your memory and helps so much with many other cognitive functions.
My life has changed. I am more energized and able to finish out my day with some "umph" as they say... as long as the boys overlap their naps for at least 15 minutes, I am golden.
Try it. You'll like it. Thank you, Jesus and my husband, for encouraging me to just let it all be a mess for 15 minutes and lay down and SLEEP!
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