If you don’t snooze, you may lose!

Feeling drowsy but have a ton of work piled up? Taking that nap may just help you cut through the load faster. According to research, despite a good night’s sleep, some shut-eye offers instant significant benefits.

Need more encouragement? The great inventor Thomas Alva Edison claimed, during an interview published in the Scientific American, to have never slept more than four hours at a stretch. However, he is believed to have indulged in frequent naps, holding a ball in each hand, relying on them to fall and wake him as he dosed into slumber, ostensibly helping him to recall any bright ideas he may have had during this period.

What the studies say

According to Kimberly A. Cote, a psychology professor at Brock University in Ontario, short bursts of sleep can improve reaction time and logical reasoning, besides lifting one’s mood, as described in a 2009 review in the Journal of Sleep Research. In another groundbreaking study, psychology professor Sara C. Mednick, at the University of California, found that sleep activates the autonomic nervous system thus aiding the conversion of information from short-term to long-term memory as we sleep. 

The study, “Autonomic Activity During Sleep Predicts Memory Consolidation in Humans,” appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Mednick and team used a creativity test known as Remote Associates Test (RAT). The experimental group took a nap between sessions and was asked to solve a word game. Interestingly, they displayed increased alertness and creativity, being more flexible with their answers coming up with words in “new and useful” combinations as compared to the control group.

Another study, conducted by University of Michigan doctoral student Jennifer Goldschmied, found that a 60-minute midday nap resulted in people being less impulsive and possessing greater tolerance for frustration than a control group that watched a nature documentary. She was quoted, “Frustration tolerance is one facet of emotion regulation. I suspect sleeping gives us more distance (from an emotional event) — it’s not just about the passing of time.”

Thus, napping, often considered a sign of laziness, may serve as an ally in fostering creativity. Scientific studies have increasingly shown that short bouts of daytime sleep can significantly enhance cognitive functions, improve memory and boost creative thinking. 

How the science works

One of the key ways in which napping contributes to creativity is by consolidating memories and facilitating the formation of new connections within the brain. Sleep consists of two core stages: slow-wave sleep (SWS), which is predominant during the early part and rapid-eye-movement (REM), which becomes more intense and extensive towards the end of the sleep period. Meanwhile, psychologist Penny Lewis of Cardiff University in Wales suggests that REM sleep (when most dreams occur) and non-REM sleep work in tandem for better problem-solving. A 2018 study found that a brief restful period of “awake quiescence”, or a nap, had the same effect. 

This is best explained by findings published in a 2022 edition of Science Advances. It noted that the semi-lucid state that we find ourselves in as we drift into sleep, known as N1, or non rapid-eye-movement sleep stage 1, is primed to give us creative insight. It implied that the “liminal haze between sleep and wakefulness, also known as a hypnagogic state” can be harnessed to recall our “bright ideas”.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both short naps of 15 to 30 minutes or hour-long ones can boost your alertness levels. It’s clear, therefore, that napping can provide a mental reset that can spur creative thinking. An altered state of consciousness, as we go from wakefulness to sleep and back can lead us to explore fresh connections. 

So, if you’re feeling cranky or just a bit stressed, give in to that urge to take a nap. You may just wake up feeling inspired!