Lastly, there’s procedural memory. It stores the motor skills you hone through practice until they can be performed unconsciously (think tying your shoes). Research shows that taking a nap boosts this type of memory, too: in one study, subjects who napped after learning a mirror-tracing task were significantly more skilled at the task during a second attempt than subjects who stayed awake between attempts.
Better Mood
A 20-minute nap can up your confidence in yourself as you complete a task.
Naps can increase your patience and self-control—research participants were able to tolerate frustration for longer after they had napped, and were also less likely to act impulsively.
After a nap, people exhibit higher levels of relaxation and kenya telegram data joy than they reported before the nap.
Naps can combat the feeling and biological markers of stress caused by sleep deprivation. In a study of sleep-deprived subjects, scientists found that napping eliminated an increase in stress hormones on both the day after sleep loss and the next “recovery” day, compared to subjects who had not napped.
Taking a nap can lower your subjective sense of drowsiness and fatigue—you’ll simply feel less exhausted!
Naps could even have long-term effects on job satisfaction and your attitude. A year-long study of volunteer shift workers found that consistent napping led to sustained positive feelings about work and an improvement in “general quality of life.”
Naps raise workers’ alertness in a variety of settings, from factories to hospitals to cockpits. NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration have conducted years of research on the benefits of naps for working pilots, and concluded that naps can increase alertness by 54%, resulting in notably improved psychomotor performance.
On a similar note, studies show that night-shift workers become more vigilant after naps, resulting in more focus—not just at work, but on the drive home, too.
Naps can enhance your ability to learn. For certain tasks, a nap might even be just as effective as a full night of sleep at solidifying a new perceptual skill in your brain.