{"id":100690,"date":"2022-05-26T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T21:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=100690"},"modified":"2022-05-26T16:59:27","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T21:59:27","slug":"how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-the-work-from-home-nap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-the-work-from-home-nap\/","title":{"rendered":"How to master the art (and science) of the work-from-home nap"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Molly Tucker
\n<\/strong>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

As the work-from-home shift caused bedrooms to replace boardrooms, many 9-to-5\u2019ers who no longer needed to commute gained an hour or two to accomplish tasks \u2013 or nap.<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Working in-person and commuting builds in a structure that allows <\/span>some<\/span>one to control their circadian rhythms, or the 24-hour biological clock that tells the body when it\u2019s time to sleep and wake up. But nearly two years into the pandemic, 61% of people who are working from home are doing so by choice, according to a January <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a> of social work trends by the Pew Research Center. A hybrid schedule, erratic napping and excessive time in bed can hinder a person\u2019s ability to get enough shut-eye. Nearly a quarter of employed Americans (22%) napped during the workday in 2021, according to a<\/span> study<\/span><\/a> by the Better Sleep Council. Napping, a common habit for kids, is oftentimes viewed as lazy or a way to make up for lost sleep in adults. But if one sleeps well at night, and it doesn\u2019t affect their work, is taking a midday snooze OK?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who should nap<\/b><\/p>\n

Ever wonder why some people can fall asleep the second they get into bed or start a road trip? Although all humans are diurnal creatures, research shows that certain people are more genetically predisposed to daytime napping, according to a<\/span> study<\/span><\/a> published in Nature Communications<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>A homeostatic sleep drive, or the pressure the body puts on people to snooze, differs from person to person, the same way height differs. It works like an hourglass, explained Dr. Kristen Knutson, a professor of neurology and preventive medicine with a background in anthropology at Northwestern University. \u201cWhen you wake up, the hourglass flips and starts to accumulate as you\u2019re awake. But when you nap, it flips over and some of the sand starts to fall out,\u201d Knutson said.\u00a0 When the hourglass is full, you are ready to sleep. If you\u2019re already struggling to fall asleep at night, napping will only worsen the problem by lessening your urge to sleep. But those with a strong homeostatic process, who feel like their hourglasses are almost always full, will hardly be affected by daytime rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

When to nap<\/b><\/p>\n

A midday nap at the hottest part of the day is ingrained in the cultures of countries like Morocco and Spain. Similarly, hunters and gatherers conserved energy this way, Knutson said. Biologically, the body enters into a \u201cpost-lunch dip,\u201d which has nothing to do with ingestion or the outside temperature. This natural part of the body\u2019s rhythm causes a midday decrease in\u00a0 energy levels, according to a 2009<\/span> study<\/span><\/a>. This brief early afternoon sleepiness is the ideal time to hit the hay.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How long to nap<\/b><\/p>\n

If napping is supposed to make one feel more alert, why do <\/span>people<\/span> feel more tired when they wake up? Sleep occurs in stages, progressively deepening the longer one sleeps. Sleep inertia, or that groggy feeling one has when they wake up, occurs if they are pulled from this deep level of rest. \u201cOne of the reasons to suggest shorter naps is that they\u2019re typically associated with less sleep inertia than a longer nap,\u201d said Dr. Kathryn Reid, a research professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Northwestern University. People typically don\u2019t doze at this deep level until after a half hour of shuteye.<\/span><\/p>\n

To ensure\u00a0 waking up feeling refreshed, limit\u00a0 snooze times to 20 to 30 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Molly Tucker is a magazine graduate student at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at @mollydtucker<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Molly Tucker Medill Reports As the work-from-home shift caused bedrooms to replace boardrooms, many 9-to-5\u2019ers who no longer needed to commute gained an hour or two to accomplish tasks \u2013 or nap.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Working in-person and commuting builds in a structure that allows someone to control their circadian rhythms, or the 24-hour biological […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":857,"featured_media":100760,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,5282],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-science","category-spring-2022"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to master the art (and science) of the work-from-home nap - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-the-work-from-home-nap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to master the art (and science) of the work-from-home nap - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Molly Tucker Medill Reports As the work-from-home shift caused bedrooms to replace boardrooms, many 9-to-5\u2019ers who no longer needed to commute gained an hour or two to accomplish tasks \u2013 or nap.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Working in-person and commuting builds in a structure that allows someone to control their circadian rhythms, or the 24-hour biological […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-the-work-from-home-nap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-26T21:59:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/photojoiner_photo-copy.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"825\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"marytucker2022\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"marytucker2022\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-the-work-from-home-nap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-the-work-from-home-nap\/\",\"name\":\"How to master the art (and science) of the work-from-home nap - 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