What are your secret survival strategies?
Freshman year, I walked over to Einstein’s during free period and bought my first iced caramel macchiato. It’s creamy, sweet flavor tasted so good, and my enjoyment was amplified by my excitement to drink coffee and be like a grown up. I downed it in minutes before history, and I was laser focused during class. Every word Mr. Leff said registered clearly in my mind. Then I went to math class and I crashed. I felt sick to my stomach and my head was ringing for the entire period. I discovered that day that while coffee and caffeine are used by many as a survival strategy, it wouldn’t work for me. However, I’ve been doing something else for my whole life that I recently discovered is an effective way to boost my energy: taking naps.
In weeks like this one where there feels like there is a never-ending checklist of assignments and tests to complete, I rely on a system that I made at the beginning of the year where I ask myself the following series of questions:
- How tired are you?
- If you’re not tired, keep working.
- If you need a break, meditate for a bit.
- If you can’t keep your eyes open, take a nap.
I wonder why I feel like I need to nap sometimes, while others almost never do. I developed the habit because my parents nap, so I suppose it has become something my body is used to.
I realize that the concept of sleeping during the middle of the day, especially for longer periods of time, seems foreign to some. I’m not going to lie—if I lie down on a Saturday afternoon after lunch I have the ability to nap for hours upon hours. But that’s not the type of nap I’m talking about here.
I recently discovered power naps, and I’ve been training myself to take them. One day, I accidentally fell asleep for only a couple minutes, and I noticed that I felt totally rejuvenated when I woke up. You have to nail the timing though, because if you nap for the wrong amount of time you could wake up feeling more tired and grumpy than you were before napping. I found that allowing myself less than twenty minutes is the most effective. Anything more and I wake up wanting to go back under the covers and stay there indefinitely.
If you find that you’re feeling tired or that coffee doesn’t work for you, I would recommend trying to take a power nap. An article published in the Harvard Health Letter cites a 2008 study in which the effects of getting more nighttime sleep, taking a nap, and using caffeine on combating midday fatigue were compared. Out of all of these methods, the nap was most effective. Try setting an alarm for twenty to thirty minutes. I read that the optimal time to nap is one or two hours after you eat, when your blood sugar and energy levels drop. Take a brief nap, and then get right back to what you were doing. This strategy has been helping me get through the past week.
Here's the link to the article: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/napping-may-not-be-such-a-no-no
Good essay. This essay is quite dense with anecdotes, but does not have equally balanced reflection. Instead, you added some information from an outside source. You can still keep the fact that there has been research shown about the benefits of napping, but you don't necessarily need to discuss that they compared various methods of getting energy or saying the full name of the essay if you wanted to get more space for reflection.
ReplyDeleteNice essay. It has a lot of personal essay and was really interesting to read. I think if you wanted to you could add in more reflection, since the essay seems heavily weighted towards narrative and information. If you needed space for the reflection you might be able to cut out the part about Harvard article. That said I think the article works well with the essay.
ReplyDeleteWonderful essay! Your essay is a personal essay with an emphasis on personal. Your voice and your character comes through wonderfully. I noticed that you use a lot of "I" sentences and, though some people find it distasteful, I think it adds a lot of voice to your character. I also think the 2nd person portions make the reader much more engaged in the essay. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat essay. The system of numbered questions for self-evaluation is a really neat concept that I've never really tried. I liked how you started the essay with an in-depth story and smoothly transitioned into reflection about stuff related to that story. The final part about the Harvard article felt a bit out of place, but I also like the idea of adding a definitive source. Other than that I would maybe add together some of the paragraphs for the essay to flow a bit easier. Really good writing.
ReplyDeleteNice essay! I really enjoyed it and it wasn't only fun to read, but it was actually really informative and educational. I think you did a good job of intertwining the narration and reflection, and even added some information into the essay. Adding the facts could make the essay lose its casual feel, but I think you did a smooth job of incorporating it into your own voice. This made me want to actually try out power napping!
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot about you in this essay. Your voice was really unique, the language was clear and concise, and the organization of the essay made it easy fun to read. There's a good mix of reflection and narration and it was well woven into the essay throughout. My only suggestion would be to strengthen your conclusion. You have plenty of space left( >100 words) and I think a conclusion is the only missing part here. Maybe provide some more recent examples of how power-napping has helped you.
ReplyDelete