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Nap Well

~ 3 min read
Napping as a sleep strategy (1:03) Daniel Cohen, MD, MMSc, formerly of Harvard, tells how to make naps part of your sleep plans.

 

Even short naps—20 to 30 minutes—can help restore alertness, enhance performance, boost concentration, improve reaction time, and benefit manual dexterity. Take advantage of nap opportunities when you can.

Try to avoid sleep inertia. Upon awakening, people often feel both mentally groggy and clumsy. This sensation, called sleep inertia, usually lasts about 15 to 30 minutes, but sometimes lasts longer. A large sleep debt, awakening from deeper stages of sleep, or awakening during the very early morning hours (3.g., 4-6 am) when your circadian clock is at a low point are all associated with longer sleep inertia.

If you need to work or drive soon after you awaken, sleep inertia could put you at risk of being injured or making poor decisions.

Consider post-nap activities before you snooze. If you feel groggy when you awaken, drink a caffeinated beverage, or chew a piece of caffeinated gum to help restore your alertness. Don’t return to work or drive until you feel mentally and physically ready to do so.


Uncover More Nap Time

Nap in sidings, if your company permits that.

Nap during breaks or limbo time if you can. If not, then stand up and stretch, jog in place, or walk around to enhance alertness.

Snooze in the crew van, if possible.

**Add an eye mask and earplugs to your work kit to help you sleep more soundly anywhere, night or day.

Improve your commute. If you drive 30 minutes or more each way to work, you’re adding at least an hour to your work day. Explore public transportation and carpooling to reduce this stress. If you leave the driving to someone else, try to grab a short nap en route.

If fatigued after work, nap before you head home. Don’t drive when drowsy.

Go back to sleep after you receive your call for work, if you can. Set your alarm for 30 minutes or so, and pull up the covers.


Take Power Naps

Nap before you start work. If you have been awake for several hours before you get a call to work, anticipate that your alertness will decline before the end of your tour. Jump-start your battery with a nap before you head in. Taking a nap before work and consuming caffeine early in your shift, particularly if you must work at night, can help boost alertness on the job.

Take a recovery nap to make up for lost sleep. If you are sleep deprived, pay back at least part of your sleep debt with a nap of three hours or more.

Try to start your nap about eight hours after you awakened. This is a normal downtime in the waking day. Sleep at this time is less likely than sleep later in the day to interfere with your usual longest sleep episode.

If you typically spend your days off catching up on sleep, you need more sleep on workdays. Try to even out your daily sleep dose.

Take an emergency nap if you start drifting off. Don’t put yourself or others in danger. Ask for relief if you need it.


Note: Not all railroads approve on-duty napping. Check with your supervisor.