Seven Simple Rules for How to Take a Nap
Editor’s Note: This is a contribution from one our content partners, Divine Caroline.
By Ransom Riggs of Mental Floss for DivineCaroline.com
Birds do it, bees do it (we think), even educated monkeys do it. So let’s do it, people. Let’s fall asleep. We’ve talked about the whys of taking naps before—they improve mood, creativity, memory function, heart health, and so much else—but never, to my knowledge, have we discussed how to take a nap. In fact, whenever we write about naps, we always get a few comments from people claiming they’re unable to nap during the day; they just can’t fall asleep, or when they do nap, they wake up groggy and unable to work. In that case, read on, my sleepy friends.
1. The first thing you should know is, feeling sleepy in the afternoon is normal.
It doesn’t mean you had a big lunch, or that you’re depressed, or you’re not getting enough exercise. That’s just how animals’ cycles work—every 24 hours, we have two periods of intense sleepiness. One is typically in the wee hours of the night, from about 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., and the other is around 10 hours later, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. If you’re a night owl and wake up later in the morning, that afternoon sleepiness may come later; if you’re an early bird, it may come earlier. But it happens to everyone; we’re physiologically hardwired to nap.
Fair Trade is growing rapidly at a 
