To take a nap, or not to take a nap, is Mark’s question for me. The answer lies in your body’s natural circadian and ultradian rhythms. Before we get into that a bit more, perhaps you are wondering how you can submit a question to me as Mark from Vienna did? It’s easy! You can either go to DaveCrenshaw.com/Ask and use the video recorder to submit it, or you can take a selfie video on your phone and email it to askdave@davecrenshaw.com.
Now, back to napping and rhythms. Sleep is an essential part of your productivity and fighting against your body’s natural cycle of sleep and wake patterns will lead to chaos. The key is finding your body’s own rhythms through trial and error experimentation over a two-week period. Once you find your sweet spots of circadian and ultradian rhythms, try your best not to fight against it to achieve optimum productivity in your day. I discuss this in more detail, as well as the importance of creating small oases throughout your day, in my book, The Power of Having Fun. Napping is an excellent example of a small oasis to break up your day and work with your ultradian rhythm if it stays under 25 minutes. Anything more can negatively affect your circadian rhythm. Another example would be taking a walk outside the office.
I’d love to hear what you do for a quick break and whether you are a morning or night person. Thank you for watching!
