How quick naps can improve your wellbeing

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This article was written by Qaqamba Falithenjwa

Do you know that feeling when it’s mid-afternoon, your energy is slowly wearing off, and your brain gets tired by the minute? You might feel like you could use a power nap just to recharge and get back to work. Well, a nap could be exactly what you need.

Naps are mostly taken during the day; a few minutes of sleep during the busyness of the day when someone feels they have exhausted their energy levels. The Sleep Foundation, an online publication, claims that a nap can “help to maintain alertness or overcome daytime fatigue.”

Here are the benefits of napping, given by the health and wellbeing magazine Happiful, and how sleeping a few minutes can improve your well-being.

Cognitive flexibility: Sleep specialists claim that taking micronaps can help you enter a state of hypnagogia, or the grey area between consciousness and sleep, which can make you more perceptive and creative. “Rich sights and ideas that are typically associated with profound sleep can occur during hypnagogia, but you are still awake enough to comprehend and recall the events.”

Productivity and focus: If you need a quick pick-me-up during a hectic day without running the danger of grogginess and disorientation, a quick nap is the required medicine. The publication above mentions that to prevent fatigue and boost productivity, rest your brain by sleeping for a few minutes.

Better mood: It might be more difficult to manage and control our emotions when we are extremely fatigued. Happiful claims that micronapping might be an energy booster that helps lessen irritation, impulsivity, and frustration. According to a study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, participants were shown to be less likely to feel frustrated after taking a quick midday nap.

Everything needs full energy for it to properly work, including your body. So don’t be too hard on yourself; be sure to recharge it now and again.

This article first appeared on Bona.