At the University of California, Davis, one of the recommended ways to “boost your focus and productivity” is to take a nap.
In fact, the National Sleep Foundation has conducted a four-year campaign to spread the word that napping may very well boost students’ grades, as long as it’s done properly, according to healthcenter.ucdavis.edu. Amelia Goodfellow, a student assistant in sleep and stress at the U.C. Davis Health Center, says the benefits of increased focus and productivity will “translate into better student performance, although she and her colleagues apparently have little data to back up these statements so far.
The recipe for napping your way to academic success appears to be “supplementing 7-9 hours of sleep” with 20-30 minute naps, taken in mid-morning or mid-afternoon, during periods of one’s natural energy slump.
However, the Sleep Foundation cautions against overdoing the naps. Results from the National College Health Assessment and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index recently concluded that three-quarters of Davis students who took naps took them for longer periods of time than recommended, which resulted in waking up groggy and negating the point of the nap.
But fear not, nappers. The Sleep Foundation has developed a multi-layered approach of platforms and strategies to promote the benefits of naps.
Campus health educators are handing out “nap kits” @ $2.75 each that include earplugs, an eye mask and a list of additional resources – Plus they team up with the “student government to spread the word on napping during National Sleep Awareness Week.”
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Deborah Lambert writes the Squeaky Chalk column for Accuracy in Academia.
If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail mal.kline@academia.org.
