HACKER Q&A
📣 upmind

Tips for Waking Up from a Nap


Hey Hackernews, I try taking naps for 90mins; 30min naps do not work for me (I can't fall asleep). But whenever I nap for 90mins, I snooze repeatedly until I stop and go back to sleep. Does anyone have any apps or techniques or anything that would help me wake up ;-;

For context, I've tried some apps that make you solve puzzles / maths problems but when I'm tired I just restart my phone and the alarm stops (because they're not particularly well made).

  👤 fuzzfactor Accepted Answer ✓
The default needs to be alert and energized, not tired and weary.

So you're napping to re-energize, not compensate for exhaustion.

That way there's always a subconscious motivation to get back up and into action.

Plus it sure takes less rest to re-energize than it does to recover from exhaustion, which may never happen in one day anyhow.

You may never need an alarm clock that way.

That in itself can be a big ask, in terms of lifestyle issues that might be needed to mitigate exhausting outcomes.

And that might help the most alone on its own.

Or if you still want to benefit by fitting some napping into more of a mainstream productive workflow, the thing to start working on is to fall into a worthwhile state of rest more and more rapidly whenever you would feel the situation appropriately contributes to better productivity.

You don't want deep sleep anyway, just maximum rest in the shortest period of time.

IOW maybe also you're already doing everything right, and just need to reduce the 30 minute wind-down period to only a minute or two. That may not happen overnight either, but can be an achievable goal.

👤 defanor
If one is not willing to get up, they can just sleep through the alarm, stash the phone (or other alarm device) somewhere, or turn it off (not restart); I doubt software can help much with those. I think the most efficient strategy is to decide that it is important to get up, and preferably to sleep enough in general. Well, maybe you can have software removing important files if it is not turned off, while not having a backup -- that would be an additional motivation, but that is rather extreme.
👤 beardyw
I would say try to do 30 mins. I feel 90 mins is too long and that is the problem. You need a technique to blot out your thoughts. Mine is to name things for every letter of the alphabet. I start with fruit and veg - apple, banana, cactus (rhythm wins over accuracy!). Mostly I don't remember reaching Z.
👤 shark_laser
This might seem daft, but try drinking a large glass of water before laying down.

The call of nature is one that cannot easily be ignored.

👤 atmanactive
For me, the following works: day by day I was adjusting the nap length until I found a sweet spot. If the time is too short (30m), then I get woken up exactly when I'm falling asleep and that feels horrible. If the time is too long (60m), then I can't really wake up as I'm already in deep sleep. But, somewhere between those two there is a number which works really well. You just have to find yours.