My freshman year, they amused me. Over time, I learned to envy them. I call them professional nappers. We’ve all seen at least one. They’re the college equivalent of a superhero; they can stay up later, get up earlier, and generally seem more productive than all the rest of us.
You too can acquire super powers, no radioactive spider needed. Like anything else in college, the key is knowledge. The reason I found these people hilarious my first year is because they knew something I didn’t: sleep is the most precious commodity a college student has. Over the years, they’ve learned how to make the most of their spare time and plan sleep around their crazy schedules. With just a few simple tips, you can be on your way to looking like a superhero.
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1. Know your nap times.
First, make sure you know what times in your schedule would be best to nap, the scheduled ones are usually much less disorientating. After you’ve figured that out, you also need to think about how long you can nap at a time. Some people do better with fifteen-minute power naps instead of crashing for an hour or more.
2. Pick your battles.
Last semester I decided to play it smart and schedule naps and meals into my schedule as I signed up for classes. However, I forgot that this is college and nothing ever goes as planned. Plan out more nap times than you actually need, if you’re lucky you’ll be able to use half of them each week. More often than not, though, you’ll have to improvise, which leads to my next tip.
3. Never nap for a half hour.
There is an exception to every rule, but it’s good to keep in mind than getting just thirty minutes of shut eye will probably leave you feeling worse than when you laid your head down. This has something to do with sleep waves and patterns of consciousness, but as long as you know to avoid it you can wait until Physio to learn the details. While you're at it, you should probably avoid the snooze button as well.
4. Always be prepared.
Just like you should have a mental schedule of all your possible nap times, it will serve you well to create a mental map of all the best nap sites on campus. Ideally, we could all afford to go back to our rooms and take a relaxing nap in the comfort of our own beds. Usually, college is the exact opposite of ideal. The library is usually the best option if you don’t have time to run back to your dorm, but it never hurts to get creative.
Congratulations, you're now four steps closer to becoming a professional napper! Of course, there's probably a lot more to figure out, I'm not a professional yet either. But college is a time of learning, and being able to somehow get enough sleep every day is a skill few people can but on their adulting resume.
