Go ahead take that daily nap because science says they are essential for your mental and physical well being.

Everybody loves a good nap. Whether it is 10 minutes or an hour, a nap can make your entire day better. Good news, as it turns out, there are considerable benefits to enjoying your daily rest other than making yourself feel better.

A recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Research discovered that short naps improve a person's cognitive alertness and mental capacity. The findings mean that a quick 20-minute nap in the afternoon can make all the difference in whether or not you perform at your best for the rest of the day.

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Yes, that means if you are not napping there is a good chance you are not performing at your highest level later in the day. Another study published by Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, as well as Clinical Neurophysiology, both had the same findings that a short nap is essential to remaining at your best all day long.

However, a study at Berkeley discovered that when you can get a good solid hour of quality sleeping, it improves and increases your brain function exponentially. When your brain functions better so do you but let's be honest who can get a full hour nap every day? It is pretty unrealistic.

What each study does have in common is that napping is essential to help us function better. The question remains how long a person should nap to achieve the benefits of napping. According to a study done by The Archives of Internal Medicine, who had 20,000 men and women between the ages of 20-86, 30 minutes is the best napping length. Three 30 minute naps a week had less coronary episodes than those who did not nap.

In a world where people have families, work full-time jobs, even have part-time jobs as well, how can you reap the napping benefits? It is hard, but the message is to try and find the time. Weekends are good for napping, maybe pick one or two days a week where you can nap at your desk. The latter is hard, but if you have an office, it is doable you just have to get creative.

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