You’ve heard about a power nap, right? Well did you know there are different kinds with different benefits? Here’s the list:
- THE NANO-NAP: 10 to 20 seconds. Sleep studies haven’t yet concluded whether there are benefits to these brief intervals, like when you nod off on someone’s shoulder on the train.
- THE MICRO-NAP: two to five minutes. Shown to be surprisingly effective at shedding sleepiness.
- THE MINI-NAP: five to 20 minutes. Increases alertness, stamina, motor learning, and motor performance.
- THE ORIGINAL POWER NAP: 20 minutes. Includes the benefits of the micro and the mini, but additionally improves muscle memory and clears the brain of useless built-up information, which helps with long-term memory (remembering facts, events, and names).
- THE LAZY MAN’S NAP: 50 to 90 minutes. Includes slow-wave plus REM sleep; good for improving perceptual processing; also when the system is flooded with human growth hormone, great for repairing bones and muscles.
