Depiction by D.Y. Lee (10) of taking a 30 minute power nap between classes, Nov. 14th.

This easy habit can help you achieve a 4.0 while having at least 2 hours of free time every day. Using this easy 30-minute method will boost your ability to focus and reduce fatigue. What I’m describing here is simple: take a nap.

After a long day at school, I return home weary and exhausted. In this tired state, I can’t work on my homework or prepare for assessments. Because of this, I used to get back home and scroll on my phone to take a break from academic study. However, when I did this, I lost track of time and didn’t feel satisfied with the break. Because of this, I was not able to focus when I started studying after the inefficient break. How could I do this? I was overworking my brain while trying to rest it. On the other hand, my brother always seemed to be focused at all times, studying, and looking much less tired. Later, I found out that he took short naps every day after school for 30 minutes before studying. This is when I started using power naps to enhance my ability to concentrate while I study.

Firstly, what is a “power nap”? A power nap is a short nap between 10-30 minutes that people take to relax their brains after mental exertion. Harvard University researchers found that “pilots [in NASA] who napped 20 to 30 minutes were over 50% more alert and over 30% more proficient at their jobs than pilots who didn’t nap.” Even in other studies, this short duration of sleep has been proven to be the most effective way to enhance concentration, improve memory, reduce fatigue, and boost people’s mood. Power naps are not only beneficial for focus: they also improve health. Power naps help decrease blood pressure in the human body, which improves people’s heart health. 

Power naps are extremely helpful for your body and for your academic studies. Every day after school, set an alarm to wake you up no more than 30 minutes later. The duration of your nap is crucial. According to the Harvard University study, people go to a deeper sleeping stage and experience “sleep inertia” once people sleep for more than 30 minutes. Sleep inertia makes people feel drowsy and slow, making them want to continue sleeping. This is why it is important to get 30 or fewer minutes of sleep to boost your energy. Once you set an alarm, put your phone away and do not open any other apps because it might get distracting. After you wake up from a nap, do something that will wake you up, like washing your face, stretching, etc. 

Finally, start working on your homework or projects, and you will most certainly feel a huge difference! I did this every day, and I rarely felt tired after starting this method. If you are someone who struggles to focus after school, I suggest you take a power nap!