Take a Nap! Change Your Life: The Scientific Plan to Make You Smarter, Healthier, More Productive [Paperback]

This book was given to me for Christmas by my sister who thinks I'm a little worn out from work (I am a PhD biomedical researcher). I was skeptical about trying to sleep at work, but the post-lunch food coma seems to mean something. Take a Nap! says my circadian rhythm dips around that time and it is not totally food dependent. I have tried putting my head down on my desk for a few minutes instead of grabbing a coffee. It is hard to relax, but I may be getting the hang of it. A few days ago it went well. I conked out for 10-15 minutes and felt much better. I'm not sure how much of that time I was asleep, but it was enough for me to rally for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

I think that if I follow the steps outlined, I will continue to get better at napping and will make this a regular part of my day. The sleeping at work issue has not come up, and since it is part of my lunch break, I don't think I am going to run into problems. I think there is a net benefit as I am not dragging for an hour when I take a nap. I'm keeping the book at work just in case anyone asks. Dr. Mednick can defend me.

Overall I found this book very helpful as a guide to changing my attitude about napping. I now think of naps the same way I think about trying to eat right and work out. And I look forward to reducing my coffee intake--at least a little. This book explains that there is no sense in trying to power through your tiredness. Only by getting some sleep can you really restore yourself. I have studied some endocrine problems and the lack of sleep contributing to increases in stress hormones is something I had not thought about. I know that eating right and working out have helped my stress level, and the naps seem to be helping, too. I'll have to keep it up.

Plus the book has some fun facts and very accessible science. Maybe napping will join healthy snacks, daycare, and gyms at the workplace.

HOW THIS BOOK HELPED ME:

This book has made a big impact on how I view my study time. Medical school is difficult and exhausting. If I attend all my lectures, eat three meals day, maintain good hygiene, commute to/from the university and get 7 hours of sleep, I only have 3 hours on the weekdays to study. I used to hardly be able to keep my eyes open during that study time and I couldn't remember anything I studied.

After reading Take a Nap! Change your life, I have the skills to use napping as part of my study routine. I used to feel guilty when I napped because I thought I was wasting valuable study time. I was just too tired to study. Now I plan naps into my study schedule and it is amazing how much better I recall everything. My test scores in Pathology have improved an average of 8 points since I started napping and my scores keep improving despite no other changes to my study routine. If you subtract out my naps, I'm actually studying less but getting better grades! As I prepare for my USMLE Step 1 Board Exam, consolidating memories and enhancing recall is especially important. I now consider napping a study skill and regular naps are part of my board prep study schedule. Naps have truly changed my life.

HOW THIS BOOK CAN HELP YOU:

I recommend this book to all students, but especially medical students. A career in medicine means long hours and years of sleep deprivation. This book will help you understand why naps are essential for peak performance on tests and review highlights of sleep research. You will learn what stages of sleep are most important for recalling massive amounts of detail and how to maximize those stages of sleep in your naps. You will learn the essential skills of napping for maximum memory and how to create a personalized nap for your individual needs.

Most importantly, the knowledge you gain from this book will also improve your ability to provide quality patient care. The vignettes emphasize how naps can improve all aspects of life. I can already see how naps would be a beneficial part of a therapeutic plan for patients with anxiety, obesity, depression, sexual dysfunction, headaches, sleeping disorders, diabetes, substance dependence, or heart disease.

A WELL ORGANIZED, EASY, QUICK READ WHEN TIME IS A PRECIOUS COMMODITY:

I know that it is hard to find time for recreational reading in medical school. Fortunately, your time investment will be well rewarded by way naps will change your life. The book is written in succinct short chapters so you don't even have to use a bookmark. You'll be amazed how easy this book is to read. It is especially refreshing after studying dense med school textbooks such as Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, Seventh Edition.

Take a Nap! Change your life has very reader friendly lay-out. It is printed in good sized font with attention to white space. Figures are clear and simple to understand. Important concepts are bolded. It is easy to navigate for specific information as well.

I highly recommend this book. I hope that you will start napping and benefit from this book as much as I have.

I found "Take a Nap! Change your Life." to have fantastic insights on a subject that is ubiquitous, yet barely understood. Think of the glut of literature dealing with food, diets, and nutrition and you quickly realize what a dearth of popular books deal with napping and sleep. This book fills that void, and finally sheds some light on how and why people take naps, and the benefits of doing so.

I have never been a napper, so I was a bit skeptical at first. I usually woke from naps feeling worse than when I sat down for them. Dr. Mednick explains this phenomenon and shows you exactly how to avoid it. I not sure I would have believed that it was possible to tailor a nap to avoid this grogginess, but a while back I took part in a napping study that proved it to me. In the experiment, I napped with electrodes on my head so that my brain waves could be observed while I slept. I was woken up about an hour later, during REM sleep. Unlike my previous experiences with naps, I woke feeling refreshed and alert. Dr. Mednick's book shows you how to optimize your naps to do exactly that (without the electrodes)...and make you a more rested, productive and healthy person.

Some other topics I found interesting:

- How the naps of "night-people" and "morning-people" differ.

- The stages of sleep--their properties and purposes.

- Myth of the "food-coma".

I highly recommend this book to anyone--nappers and non-nappers alike. The only fault I found was that the book was not nearly as sleep-inducing as a book on napping should be. :)

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