Napping Challenge

Do you have what it takes? I think yes!

Types of Napping

According the to National Sleep Fondation, naps can be categorized into three types:

1. Planned Napping - This involves taking a nap before you are feeling the need for one. Do this when you know you're going to be up late to prevent getting tired earlier.

2. Emergency Napping - This happens suddenly when you are overwhelmed with drowsiness and cannot continue the task you are taking part in.

3. Habitual Napping - This involves taking a nap at the same time every day. It is usually practiced by children who nap regularly.

What kind of naps do you usually take?

I'm currently awake writing a paper due in a couple hours and wish I would have taken a planned nap so I wasn't feeling the need for an emergency nap right now!

Visit the The National Sleep Foundation's website for more information.

*ALL INFORMATION IS COPYRIGHTED AND OWNED BY THE NATIONAL SLEEP FOUNDATION*

Innocent until proven... wait, sorry, I was napping

According to The Telegraph, Russian judge Yevgeny Makhno is facing disciplinary action after he was caught on camera dozing off during a trial that ended with him handing out a 5 year sentence. A complaint has been issued calling for Makhno's verdict to be cancelled, claiming that his lack of interest shows a degree of unlawfulness. Blagoveshchensk City Court has launched an investigation and says the results will be known by next week.

Check out the video below. We've discussed napping at work before; some employers encourage it while some believe it is counterproductive and disrespectful.What do you think the penalty should be, if one at all? Is napping at work ever okay, or is it acceptable in some careers? Tell me what you think!

Pup Nap

"I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it's not a waste of time."

- Martha Stuart (CLEARLY stating that napping can be useful)

Chatter Induced Napping

Know your "chronotype": Lark vs. Owl

"Chronotype" - attribute reflecting at what time of the day a human's physical functions are active, change or reach a certain level. 

To determine the best time to nap, it helps to know your chronotype. In other words, if you were entirely free to plan your day, what time would you go to bed, wake up and take a nap? 

Larks are usually apt to wake as early as 6am and go to sleep around 9 pm or 10 pm. This will usually lead you to feeling sleepy around 1-1:30 pm.

Owls usually prefer to go to bed after midnight or 1am and wake around 8 am or 9 am. This leads to a later "sleep gate" and will leave you feeling a sleepy around 2:30-3 pm.

So, are you a lark or an owl?

(Information Source: The Guardian)

Car-napper Caught Napping

(Story from June 1, 2012)


A suspected Post Falls, Idaho car burglar appears to have fallen asleep on the job.

Police say 33-year-old Jason D. Hill was arrested early Thursday morning after he was caught napping inside one of the vehicles he was trying to steal outside a Post Falls apartment complex.

It was reported that Hill intended to hotwire the care but his plan fell through around 4 A.M when he was found outside of the car by the owner, who called the police.

Police say he appears to have been removing the car's stereo when he nodded off.

Authorities say the vehicle Hill drove to the scene was stolen. He is suspected of breaking into four vehicles parked at the apartment complex.

(Original story by KTVB.com)

Stranger napping on your shoulder? Problem solved!

Basically what you see above is a project that combines unique gadgets or devices to help change the essences of suits. It turns something serious into something that can be fun or silly! If you didn't watch the video, basically the suit plays music from the shoulder whenever someone (or their head) touches a certain spot. You can get more information on the project here.

Riders of public transportation know the pain of having people fall asleep next to or even on you. I think it would be really funny to see this happen in action! Of course it's just a project (that I don't think is even happening in the US) so it won't happen but it would definitely change the napping on public transportation game. How do you all feel about this.. funny or too strange?

When napping at work isn't okay

Shocking audio recordings revealed a Montgomery County, Maryland 911 dispatcher napping (and snoring) as a frantic women pleads for help. 

This specific dispatcher was is an experienced uniform fire fighter who was 17 hours into a 24-hour overtime shift.  Jeffery Buddle, the Union Rep for Fire Fighters, said while this seems like a long shift to someone who isn't used to it, this is a normal shift for Fire Fighters. It was also reported that this was the first time someone has ever fallen asleep during a 24-hour shift.

After noticing no help was being given, the transferal operator stepped in and got another dispatcher on the line. In the background of CPR instructions from the second dispatcher you can here the dispatcher snore at least 18 times. Eventually the original dispatcher wakes up, not realizing the women had been on the phone for four minutes.

The dispatcher was removed from the floor that night by his supervisor and is suspended with pay until the inquiry is finished.

What do you think of this story? (For more information check out the news video here)

UVa student saved by napping

University of Virginia student, Chris Lemos, was napping on his couch after a workout when a .45-caliber bullet broke through his window, flew across his desk chair and went through his bedroom wall, before bouncing off a bed in an unoccupied room and landing on the floor of his apartment.

"The craziest thing about it was that honest to God I was planning to do my homework at my desk,” Lemos said. The officer who responded to the call said that he was lucky to be alive.

So if you're ever looking for a good reason to nap, remember this: napping saves lives!

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap."

- Barbara Jordan (quoting Robert Fulghum in 1987 at Middlebury College)

Use naps to manage headaches.. or not?

I'm guilty. The best way for me to quickly get rid of a headache is to take a small nap. However, a new study links mid-day napping (to relieve tension pressure) to unwanted insomnia effects. 

Lead investigator and  assistant professor of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center, Jason C. Ong, Ph.D, said, “Insomnia is a common complaint among headache sufferers. While napping may relieve pain, it may also result in poor sleep hygiene, thus triggering sleep disturbance or perpetuating an insomnia episode,” said Ong.

The study looked at 65 women; 32 who had tension-type headaches as according to the International Headache Society System and 33 who were used as a control who felt minimal pain. Overall it reported that the connection between day time naps to cope with pain and insomnia is important to look at for developing behavioral sleep interventions.

So, have you ever napped to get rid of a headache? Did you have a hard time falling asleep at night?