Tired in the Afternoon... todays top article outlines the perfect NAP

I'm not sure if it's age catching up on me, but I get desperately tired every afternoon around 2 o'clock. Perhaps my blood suger levels are not quite right. It doesn't seem to occur on weekend days, just during the working week.

If I'm working from home I can of course take a quick nap. However, that's not an option in a busy office and it would not a good example for the "boss" to be quietly snoring at his desk.

The weekend article submissions at LPR was quite low, as the new article spam and duplication killer software works from the source and doesn't require human input.

I found the "nap" article (below) by using the LPR site search.

Who would have guessed somebody could write an article about napping! NASA even run a nap research centre.

How To Design The Perfect Nap

Most people enjoy a good nap now and then, but are you really utilizing their full power? A correctly performed nap can give you a great boost in energy, focus, and concentration, but a poorly executed nap can leave you groggy and more tired than when you started. Several cultures around the world use a "siesta" in the afternoon to stay productive, and many workers in the U.S. have reported success avoiding afternoon drowsiness with a nap.

Some people (myself included) have even excelled on nothing but six well times naps per day, during polyphasic sleep. Taking six naps per day has given me a chance to design the perfect nap. Here's how:

Get the timing right. The single most important aspect of a nap is making it the right length, and it requires a little background explanation to understand why. It turns out that dreaming is the most important part of sleep. Test subjects who were deprived of dreams (meaning they were woken up when they started to dream, but otherwise allowed to sleep as much as they wanted) performed on tests as if they had not slept at all. Furthermore, the longer they were deprived of dreams, the more frequently their brains attempted to start dreaming. Mice who were deprived of dreams for more than a few weeks died! You may have noticed this on your own if you ever took a quick nap, and vividly remembered your dreams afterwards. When exhausted, you will tend to dream more.

So what does this all mean? It means that your goal during a nap is to enter the REM sleep phase quickly (this is where most dreaming occurs), and to wake up as soon as the REM sleep phase is over. If you sleep past the REM phase you'll enter deeper phases of sleep and it will be really difficult to get up! The only reason this is difficult is that everyone sleeps differently. For most people, their optimal nap time (where they can wake up just as they finish REM) is between 15 and 30 minutes, but you'll have to test to find yours precisely. What makes it more difficult is that you have to take into account how long it takes you to fall asleep. When you are first perfecting your naps, it could take quite a while to fall asleep, so I'd suggest starting with a 30-35 minute nap, and working your way down. Don't be surprised if after a 30 minute nap you are exhausted.

You may have gone right through REM into a deeper sleep phase. It will feel like being woken up in the middle of the night, and during these times I've had trouble with even the most basic tasks like keeping my balance or forming sentences. Each day, try a different length of nap, reducing the time by 3-5 minutes, and record your energy levels. As you learn to fall asleep quicker, and close in on your optimal time, you'll notice a remarkable thing: it's possible to wake up from a nap totally refreshed and alert! This is the sweet spot you are searching for.

Make sure you have optimal light and sound conditions for power napping, and you can use this tool whenever you need a boost!

Article Republished From: Liberated Press Releases and Other FREE Information a web site that DOESN'T use Google Adsense text links in or around articles.

Author Resource:- Brian Armstrong is an entrepreneur who sleeps 2-3 hours per day using polyphasic napping. To learn how to start your own business and transition out of the 9-to-5 working world, visit his blog on how to start a home based business.

Maybe Brian's got a point...

From Wikipedia.com
A power nap (sometimes called a catnap) is a short nap, usually 15-20 minutes, coined by Cornell University social psychologist James Maas. It is thought by many to maximize the benefits of sleep versus time. This type of sleep pattern may be associated with polyphasic sleep; however, it is more often used to supplement normal sleep, especially when the sleeper has accumulated a sleep deficit.

Advocates of this sleep pattern recommend various durations for a power nap. Many have a precise time which they say is optimal—usually around 20-35 minutes. People who regularly take power naps usually have a good idea of what duration works best for them. Some people take power naps out of necessity. For example, someone who doesn't get enough sleep at night and is drowsy at work may sleep during his or her lunch break. Others may prefer to regularly take power naps even if their schedule allows a full night's sleep. Importantly, napping skills are trainable and have been shown to become more efficient in more experienced nappers.

NASA-supported sleep researchers are learning new and surprising things about naps.

Space travel is sleepless work.

Despite NASA recommendations that astronauts sleep 8 hours a day, they usually don't. Strange sights and sounds, the stress of riding a powerful rocket, the lack of a normal day-night cycle--all these things tend to keep space travelers awake. Studies show that astronauts typically sleep 0.5 to 2.5 hours less than they do on Earth.
Although many astronauts report feeling fully rested after only six hours of sleep, the fact is, sleeplessness can cause irritability, forgetfulness and fatigue--none of which astronauts need to deal with while piloting complicated 'ships that hurtle through space at tens of thousands of miles per hour. [more & source]

The solution seems simple: Take a nap.