Being the founder of a blog titled “Wendi’s Weekend Trips and Whatnot” you would think that I keep busy going to new places all of the time. While this is mostly true, I also enjoy a good nap. (While some wives complain about football season, I see it as a chance to get a 2 hour nap on Sunday afternoons for 16+ weeks.) I will say that I never intentionally took a week off from work with the idea of napping, until this year.
My husband, Bobby, and I have had a busy year and next year doesn’t look to be slowing down. So when we talked about taking a week off from work to just stay home, I looked forward to the lack of plans. Although we did plan on trying Luigi’s and I planned on seeing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, that was basically it. The rest of the week was open, so I took advantage and napped … a lot. In fact the only day I didn’t get a nap in was Friday, when I went to see Star Wars with my Dad, Bud.
I know people who say they can’t nap, that their bodies won’t let them. I figure they just haven’t tried hard enough. In case you ever want to spend your vacation napping, I have put together my tips for planning a good napcation or any napping plans for that matter:
- Change the sheets — I know, this should be a no brainer, but I am not that great on consistently changing our sheets. Life just gets too hectic. Heck, I am lucky if I remember to make the bed before leaving for work! But with that said, there is nothing like going to bed with newly washed sheets. This is a must for a good napcation.
- Make the room cool — I read once that the room where you sleep should be cool. I think it is so you can sleep better. I totally agree, which is why I recently graduated from having one fan running throughout the night (and my naps) to two. I love cuddling under a stack of blankets in a cool room. It is so comforting.
- Make the room dark — This can be more difficult to do during the day, but I have found a good army blanket hung behind the curtains of the window works pretty well. I know they make room darkening curtains, too, but I have never priced them. Either way you do it, a dark room is conducive to good sleep.
- Kick the pets out of the room — If you have read my blog even a little, you know I have several cats and a dog. I love them all, but less so if they interfere with my naps. The best way to prevent it is kicking them out of the room and closing the door. I will admit that Owney sleeps with us through the night, but if he naps with me I usually only get an hour nap. That is because he only takes an hour nap and then starts barking — which isn’t helpful when you are trying to sleep. The only way to stop him is to get up and take him for a walk. The best thing to do is to walk him first and then maybe I can get more than 60 minutes of sleep. Those of you without pets can skip this step.
- Calm your mind — One of the hardest things to do when you are trying to sleep, especially in the middle of the day, is to keep your mind quiet. It might not be obvious, but I am list maker, and I love to feel like I accomplished something in my day. But this can definitely get in the way of a good nap. If I let my mind start to worry about the time I “am wasting” while I nap, I either won’t get quality rest or I won’t be able to sleep at all. Thankfully I have an amazing husband who understands my need for rest and he doesn’t mind if things are delayed around the house. So I can sleep, even though I haven’t vacuumed all month. And I can catch up on my zzzzz’s even when I should catch up on the laundry. So once you can put all that needs to be done to rest in your mind, then your body should be able to follow suit. And if you really need to be able to mark something off your list, make it your nap. Like Bobby sometimes says, “I have a lot of things to do today. I think I’ll knock out my nap first.”
I truly believe if you follow my steps you can become a world class napper like me. However, one word of caution. Do not nap after 4 pm, unless you don’t have to work the next day. I have found that four o’clock is the cut off time. If I get my nap in before 4, I don’t have a problem sleeping at night. If I don’t, then I can’t sleep at night and have lost all the benefits of the nap I took earlier in the day. So buyer beware!
Do you have any tips to add? I’m always looking for ways to improve my sleep. But I’ll look at them later, my bed is calling!
