Blog Post Focus: Permission to Nap and Rest
This post will discuss the habit of napping as an undergraduate student. This is directed toward the more Type A perfectionists and workaholic students who feel compelled to always work and never stop. For them: yes, it is okay to nap. It is good to rest. You need to rest and recover.
Introduction – A Time of Adventure in Undergrad
Undergraduate education can be a time of adventure, discovery, education, and self-growth. It can be a fantastic time of fulfillment and of pursuing what you really desire. When what you desire is medical school and becoming a future physician it can feel overwhelming. You can feel like you need to take difficult classes, lose sleep, miss out on time with friends and family. It can feel like you need to be parts of every club, excel in everything, and like you have no time to sleep. In fact, when you sleep you may feel like you are missing out on time to add to your resume or do something for your future.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, it is okay. You need to find out a way to get through your classes and meet your goals. You can’t do everything. You need to do what you NEED to do. Even when you cut down your activities to just what you need to do you may find yourself overwhelmed. This will happen in different periods. However, you should not feel overwhelmed all the time. If so, your stress will build up and you may have poor sleep when you do sleep. You may feel like you need naps to supplement your sleep. Yet, you may feel guilty for taking naps or worry it will interfere further with your sleep if you take naps.
Is it Okay to Take Naps in college?
Yes. More than any other time in your life this is an acceptable time to take naps. Be that as it may, if you are relying on short rest periods to make up for poor sleep you get, then you may need to focus on improving the quality of your sleep. That can be done with general sleep hygiene – calming down before sleep, making sure nothing exciting or aggravating is going on during sleep, putting your phone away, etc. If you find that napping harms the quality of your sleeping, then it may need to be avoided. Otherwise, take naps.
Naps Can Be Great
Naps can be a great thing. Your schedule may require brief rest periods to supplement your sleep. For example, if you are a student-athlete and have morning workouts or you work early in the morning you may need to wake up very early. Concomitantly, you may have classes or jobs or clubs that keep you busy until late evening. In these circumstances you may not be able to get a full night sleep ever until these commitments change.
Recovery
Additionally, you may workout intensely, and find that even with a relatively full sleep you are tired. If you have the chance and feel like you need it, take a nap. Sleeping is a way for the body to recover and adapt. It can help with the intense demands of working out. Or, you may feel exhausted from studying. Resting can force you to stop and relax.
Conclusion – Take a Nap if You Feel Like It
Really, napping can be quite useful. In undergraduate education it is expected. If it isn’t interfering with meeting your requirements or affecting your nightly sleep, it is okay to take the rest in college. You don’t have to go nonstop. You don’t have to be doing everything all the time. In fact, you need rest. You do need to stop sometimes.
If you need it, take a nap. Stress-free.
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