Has anyone who is bad at #naps managed to get good at naps?
I am a chronic #insomniac and late riser, I am trying to wake up earlier on a regular basis, and I might benefit from being able to take a short midday nap.
But howwww?
(Yes, I'm familiar with #delayedsleepphasedisorder and the concept of biphasic or #polyphasic sleep. I've been terminally online for 28 years, so please only reply from personal experience, thanks.)
@seawall Not sure how relevant but: as a teen I'd take like 2 hours to get to sleep, it sucked. I decided to at least use the time to lie quietly and plan the next scene in the book I was writing. This was so pleasant that I was dismayed to find myself drifting off to sleep much more quickly: soon within minutes.
More recently I've had similar success with silent recitals of a poem I was memorizing, or visualization of figure skating drills.
@seawall The caveat is that since my teenage years getting to sleep/nap has always been easy to the point of maybe narcolepsy? (I'm currently experimenting with biofeedback to try and keep myself awake when the nap urge hits.) So maybe I learned great skills or maybe I just grew out of it and my advice is useless...
But still... even if you don't actually achieve sleep in naptime, quiet time to think about something fun could still help with relaxation so may be worth a try anyway.
@seawall
I''m very much not a morning person too.
* Forget about napping from 7am / 8am - 1pm: It rarely works well (except for short extensions of an earlier-than-desired wake time). You'll just get barely rested, and feel worse afterwards.
* After lunch (2-3 ish, or 3:30 - 4:30 ish) are best times for afternoon naps - if tired, it will happen. Or move to Mexico :P
* Have found a once-a-week 8am start (e.g. work meeting) can help ensure earlier starts for few days, but can be painful
@seawall
As for taming insomnia, things that I usually do:
* Turn on one of a fixed set of non-upbeat CD's (Finding Nemo / Thomas Newman mixes, Mozart, Shostakovich 11, have been esp. effective personally)
* Draw circles / spirals / curves on a big piece of paper using a wooden pencil
* Adjust room temperature (get a thermometer and find the right numbers for you)
* Variations on 2-4-8, 4-4, and similar
* Check for + fix loose AC plugs in the room, ticking clocks, etc.
* Get out of bed
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