But that was before I had kids. Now, I'd kill for a nap. When the boys are running me ragged, I seriously contemplate walking out to my car, reclining the seat, and dozing off in the driveway.
Turns out napping's good for you. In fact:
Humans are among the few animals that take their sleep in one shot. The rest of the animal kingdom consists of polyphasic sleepers; they alternate sleep and wake cycles throughout a 24 hour period. Cavemen likely slept in multiple phases too, so someone was always up to keep an eye out for saber tooth tigers. While experimenting with a return to polyphasic sleep has become trendy in recent times, the ideal pattern for human sleep is biphasic–a long stretch at night along with a shorter respite during the day.A nice, restful nap sounds awesome. And as Tim Ferriss' "The 4-Hour Body
" claims: "[r]emarkably, adding just one [20-minute] nap during the day shaves an hour and 40 minutes off your total sleep requirement."This might be just the ticket for those days when I wake up before dawn to go
I don't have the time or inclination, however, to experiment with a full-on Uberman polyphasic sleep protocol like some people -- including Cosmo Kramer.
All this talk of sleep is making me sleepy. 'Night.
