3 Tips For Getting the All Important Naptime
In 2008, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reported that U.S. adults were getting less sleep than two decades prior. If this is the case, why are so many of us Americans getting less accomplished each day, or even each year? Do I dare label us, as a Nation, lazy? Or, is there a deeper reason other than lack of motivation that can be attributed to the wasteful use of time that Americans are stereotyped for?
Before the floodgate of opinion and self-justification flies completely open, let me share with you some findings. A different study conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that the average South Korean employee works 2,357 hours per year (six-and-a-half hours for every single day of their life). This ranked them number one among OECD members for working the longest hours per year. Greece comes second in the OECD’s rankings with 2,052 hours worked on average each year, and just behind is Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. The U.S. is above the OECD average of 32 nations coming in at 9th, with 1,797 hours worked on average each year (about 5 hours for every single day of our lives).
Now, let’s assume that the average American is “awake” 98 hours each week (14 hours a day), leaving 10 hours for sleep. Going along with the aforementioned survey and only working 5 hours per day, what the heck are we doing with the other 9 hours? There are studies reporting the U.S. as the most obese Nation amongst developed countries, so we can’t attribute those 9 hours to exercise. Yes, we must account for travel time, to and from work and other places, as well as time spent with children. However, let’s get realistic, we aren’t spending enough time with our children. So I ask again, where does the other 9 hours of our day go?
Evaluating a typical day, how often do you find yourself sluggish and tired by early evening? Possibly you get up at 7am, drop the kids off at school, work an 8 hour day, make it home by 6:30p, cook dinner, help the kids with school work and come 9pm you are pooped! Correct? After a 5 day work-week schedule laid out as I just mentioned, the weekend comes and you rest for the better part of Saturday, maybe take the kids to the park and have some friends over for drinks. You deserve it, right? On Sunday you go to church, and again spend time with the kids as well as plan your schedule for next week, which doesn’t actually need planning because it’s the same daily routine. Well, in the spirit of being realistic, we don’t actually go to bed at 9pm on weekdays, much less weekends. Most Americans stay up doing, insert your favorite pastime here, activities until at least midnight. So, now the question remains, what causes so many of us to sit idle watching television instead of engaging in productive tasks that enhance our life fulfillment and give back to the world? The answer, in my opinion, is the lack of nappy time.
This conclusion I have come up with through personal experience, not through surveys or experiments with control groups. Taking an afternoon nap enables me to get more done! I find that not only do I have a better attitude towards others and life’s daily challenges, but I also find myself refreshed at early evening, therefore preventing me from just sitting idle. Granted, not everyone has the luxury of nappy time, or at least not everyone thinks they do. However, how much would your life change if you made time for a nap each day. We seem to make time for the things we want to accomplish everyday. Here are 3 tips for ensuring you get a daily dose of naptime:
-Try eating lunch in 30 minutes and then using the other half of your lunch hour to nap in your car or the break room.
-Take a nap immediately following work, before picking up the kids or grocery shopping.
-Schedule your nap time at the same time everyday and stick with it.
Again, it can take place in a car, van, library, heck I know a friend who sleeps in the bathroom stall for 20 minutes before leaving the office. I also know an indie band that takes naps before practice so that all members are focused on writing music. The idea is to make time for something that has been proven to improve your life and then stick with it. Google the advantages of taking a nap and you’ll find more than one article on the subject, and recently the U.S. News & World Report listed taking an afternoon nap as one of the top 50 ways to improve your life in 2009. If you just can’t seem to find the time to take a nap daily, I suggest reading a book or taking a course on time management. Alternately, you can employ the services of a life coach who will be able to delve deep into your personal situation and help you to remove obstacles keeping you from obtaining your goals and staying physically refreshed while doing so.
Anthony Everette
Plato’s Razor Coaching Institute
Anthony@PlatosCoach.com
Life Coach
