I Rant Against Naps

Like many writers, I have aspirational schedules. You know, 'today I am going to write for a solid 8 hours with no distractions! Totally going to happen, despite the fact that it has never happened with me.' It never happens. In my case, I blame naps.

I stay up late, drag myself out of bed early to deal with work and home, and then, when I feel heavy with sleep, I take a nap. The irresistible pull of the bed generally kicks in around 1 or 2 pm, which is right in the middle of the productive part of the afternoon. You know who can afford such nap times? Cats. Unemployed people. Spoiled aristos who are living off their parents' dime.

I don't fall in any of those categories.

I know that there are people who claim that an afternoon nap is what everyone needs to function at their best, but it never works for me. In fact, it does the exact opposite of make me productive. I fall in a stupor, passing in and out of consciousness for an hour or 2, absorbing sounds from the outside world in bits and pieces. When I come back to the living, I am groggy, my eyes gritty and my mouth sticky. I'm too out of it for the rest of the day for deep thinking, but too awake at bed time to sleep when it would actually do me some good. I am rendered useless for days by a wonky sleep cycle.

Sleep is definitely necessary for health and work. Just not naps. Not for me, anyway.