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5 kinds of naps you'll take at University

Date:25 May 2018
Author:Iman
Get that precious sleep when you can!
Get that precious sleep when you can!

Every student knows of the complicated relationship between Uni and sleep. You love it, you need it, you crave it and yet hate yourself for having too much of it.  You can never get enough of it and constantly obsessively think of it. I have never slept more in my life than as a Uni student; suddenly it’s like being plunged back into infancy but with all the responsibilities of being an adult! And you need those extra hours like you wouldn’t believe.

1)    Power nap

Okay, so this is the napping with a purpose. Perfect for in-between exams, you can often catch that student napping at the back of the lecture hall across the seats or in the library. If you are successful in mastering this one, it can be a vital skill. Perhaps even CV worthy- just don’t actually do it at work or you’ll run the risk of no longer having work.

2)    Procrastination nap

Are you up to your eyeballs in work? Too many deadlines to count, a billion things on your to-do list, the kitchen sink is full and your room is a complete chaos…. Well then, take a nap you deserve it. Procrastination got you here so it should get you out right? Because you know, everything will be miraculously pieced together when you wake up- Mary Poppins style. I must admit I am a little too well acquainted with this one. You have so much on your plate that you would rather escape to another world- a dream one. Where deadlines are a mirage, you’re flying through the sky and nothing else matters. With the delusion that you will wake up with a renewed sense of vigour and actually get stuff done. Only to wake up even more tired than before. Second time's a charm?

3) Coma/knock-out

This one is when you nap a little too hard. To be honest we may as well call this one full out sleeping. You lay your head down with the illusion that you will merely have a little shut-eye. When you wake however it’s multiple hours later and sometimes even the next day; Your heads heavy, confused as to what year you’re in and how the hell you got here. It’s weird because you felt like you barely slept at all, but the time says otherwise. A stampede could have gone past your house and you would not have as so much as twitched. This one's great after a long day, especially if you had a rough nights sleep the night before, but is it worth the guilt?

4)    Snooze/ please just 5 more minutes

I too like to live life on the edge, but this normally leads to missing a tutorial or lecture. It’s Monday morning you've prepared everything even packed your bag the night before and planned out your outfit. The alarm goes off and you’re like yeah I’m good, it’s early I have five more minutes to spare. Next thing you know it’s the afternoon and you’re already behind, swearing up and down that you just blinked and now you’re frazzled and rushing around frantically like a madman. Never press snooze!

5) In class/ eyes still open

This one could occur anywhere, you are just that sleep deprived that you could sleep everywhere. You may be in your lecture in the flesh but not in spirit. You're a million miles away and somehow have managed to sleep with your eyes open. That or blinking so rapidly that you almost appear awake. This one is one of the worst because it’s impossible to control. Your mind works at twice the speed thinking of all the possible places you could sneak in a nap. In the end, any corner will do. You're not sure how you got to this point but you tell yourself it won’t happen again. Come next Friday however… And it’s the same old story.

Does any of this sound like you? Jog a memory, perhaps a little too familiar. It all comes down to the good old sleep paradox; ‘Never sleepy enough to go to bed, never awake enough to get out of bed’. Ha-ha, we have all been there, soon enough you will have a foolproof way of dealing with each situation and become a nap savant. Getting that shut-eye in whenever you can. It is just a matter of practice- get as much as you can!



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