A 3-Step Guide to Micro Naps for Work From Home Parents To Sustain Energy All Day
A quick way to recharge
Did you know that when your eyes are open, visual signals consume up to 66% of your brain’s activity?
Imagine giving your brain a break from all that. Let’s try this, close your eyes for 3 seconds. Did you feel that?
A slight moment of relaxation.
Now imaging doing that for 60 seconds before your next Zoom call. Or better yet taking a daily 5–20 minute nap in your home office. Micro naps are key to sustain energy and focus all day long for parents working from home. They also offer you an unfair advantage over your in-office colleagues.
Here’s a short guide on why and how to add micro naps to your daily routine for sustained energy.
Understand the Science of Micro Naps
When you close your eyes, even for a little bit, it’s like giving your brain a mini-vacation
By closing your eyes, you increase the activity of “alpha waves” which helps to calm and relax your brain. When your eyes are open, your brain is a chaotic playground of toddlers. Shut your eyes and it’s the serene, quiet bliss that happens after the kids go to bed. This is why closing your eyes for a few moments can help you feel better and more focused to go learn, work, or parent.
Even short periods of 1 to 5 minutes can help restore energy and focus.
There is No Wrong Way to Micro Nap
The key is to close your eyes and not listen to anything.
You want to reduce the amount of sensory input into your brain. You can shut the lights or not, it doesn’t matter. All you need to to do is close your eyes. If you decide to lay down I would suggest setting a timer on a meditation app or alarm clock so you don’t miss a meeting.
Find whatever way works for you, but instead of doom scrolling on your phone, try a micro nap.
Making Naps a Part of Your Routine
I have a 30 minute block on my calendar every afternoon.
During this time I shut the lights, set my meditation app timer, and lay down with my eyes closed. It’s the perfect antidote to Zoom calls, context switching, and running out of focus time. If you can afford to do this, take a strong 20–30 minute nap in the middle of the day.
Otherwise, add a micro nap in that dead period before a Zoom call instead of checking Slack or e-mail.
Remote Workers Have This Advantage Over In-Office Folks
We can step away 100% from our desks and recharge.
In the office, you can mindlessly check Reddit or something, maybe go for a walk. But you can’t go lay down on the office couch and close your eyes for 30 minutes. And it’s a shame, you should be able to recharge like that mid-day.
Use napping at home to your advantage and you will have more focus and energy during the day to be productive.
Sources
Mednick, S., Nakayama, K., & Stickgold, R. (2003). Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 697–698. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1078.
Rufa, A. (2009). STUDY OF EYE MOVEMENTS AS A RESEARCH TOOL IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE. Journal of the Siena Academy of Sciences, 1, 59–60. https://doi.org/10.4081/JSAS.2009.338.
Wu, L., Eichele, T., & Calhoun, V. (2010). Reactivity of hemodynamic responses and functional connectivity to different states of alpha synchrony: A concurrent EEG-fMRI study. NeuroImage, 52, 1252–1260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.05.053.