That 3 PM slump and Truth of powernap
Your brain's secret reset button is a 20-minute nap. It’s the daily upgrade that history’s geniuses used to boost memory, mood, and creativity. The best productivity tool might just be a well-timed doze.
10/25/20252 min read
That 3 PM slump is real and scientifically proven. A NASA study on sleepy pilots found that a 26-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. That’s a person who took power nap this afternoon responding to attempted slap half a second earlier. But its much more than that.
A Power nap is shortest sleep, typically under 10-30 mins.
You know we talked about work life balance in our first article through different strategies. But some changes are simple, subtle and yet so powerful.
You certainly don’t need list of 100 benefits, but it would be nice to know how it impacts second part of your day. Your brain consolidates thoughts and memories when you are sleeping. This nap is more like putting everything you did in first half of workday in a zip folder, free up your cache memory and lighten you up before you take on bigger half, that is second half of the day reducing the chances of burnout significantly.
It does these 4 things to you:
Improved Memory & Learning: During sleep, even short naps, your brain actively consolidates memories. It transfers information from the hippocampus (short-term memory) to the neocortex (long-term storage). This is crucial for learning new skills or studying.
Boosted Mood and Emotional Regulation: When you're tired, the amygdala (the brain's emotional center) becomes more reactive, making you irritable and prone to frustration. A nap can calm the amygdala, helping you manage stress and regain emotional stability.
Increased Creativity: A nap can help you overcome a mental block and see problems from a new angle.
Physical Rejuvenation: A nap reduces cortisol (the stress hormone) and can give your cardiovascular system a brief rest. It also provides a burst of energy for physical coordination and motor skills.
Albert Einstein would recline in a chair with a spoon in his hand, placing a metal plate on the floor. As he dozed off, the clatter of the spoon falling would wake him, preventing him from falling into a deep sleep.
Leonardo da Vinci Followed a polyphasic sleep pattern, taking short, 15-minute naps throughout the day instead of one long period of sleep.
Salvador Dalí Also used a similar technique to Einstein's, employing a "one-second nap" or a very brief "micro-nap" to access a state of creative thought just before waking.
Winston Churchill napped for at least an hour in the early afternoon, believing it was crucial for his performance during World War II.
John F. Kennedy took a daily post-lunch nap
Thomas Edison was also a proponent of taking naps to stay creative
More words are not going to help you see its true benefits until you try it today.
Hack: You don’t even have to avoid that coffee before the nap, it takes caffeine 25 minutes to kick in. Take that coffee before your power nap and get a double boost when you wake up.