A lesson in picking your nap-time

Today I learned a very important lesson about when and when not to take a nap.

I was feeling pretty sleepy, but not overwhelming. Nonetheless I knew nap time was coming so I decided to go lay down rather than fight it for the roughly 20 minutes it would take for the urge to become overwhelming.

As I skipped my lou upstairs, I checked my phone and realized that I would be due for medication in around 15 or minutes so. Normally I nap for 20-30 minutes and for a moment ... an ever so brief moment ... I considered waiting to nap until I had time to take my medication.

For reasons beyond my explanation, I chose not to. I also chose not to set an alarm because
A) my real alarm was packed away and setting the phone alarm would take 30 seconds longer than I had an attention span for
B) My body often wakes me after about 30 - 45 minutes during mid-day naps if has grown accustomed to them.

Unfortunately for me I failed to factor in that I had not been on a consistent nap schedule as of late. About an hour and a half later I woke up, extremely groggy. I laid in bed for a while coming in and out of consciousness. Somewhere I realized I was groggy because my medicine had worn off. I had an hour window to re-medicate before it wore off, and I slept right through it.

Absolutely brilliant.

Fortunately I have nothing doing these days, but I certainly came to the realization that it would have been far better to just puts around for 15 minutes and then medicate and nap. The amount of time I spend napping, how often and how refreshed I feel is directly related to how productive I can be throughout a day.

Oh well, ya live and learn (and in my case then ya nap!)

-Jim-