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Feeling groggy, tired or unmotivated in the afternoon?
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Using coffee, soda, and energy drinks, we often try to push through the dreaded long day yawning through the hours and fighting the fatigue.
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But it just so happens that the solution is the very thing we've been trying to avoid all along, sleep.
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Truth is, the power nap is perhaps the most effective way to rejuvenate your brain.
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There are four main stages of your sleep cycle.
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The first two are relatively light sleep, while the third brings you into a deep slumber.
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The final stage, known as rapid eye movement, or REM for short, is where most of your dreams begin.
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The benefits of napping are tied to the length of time in which you are asleep.
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Naps 30 minutes in length generally only allow time to enter these first stages.
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In stage 1, slow eye movement begins and if woken you often feel as though you didn't even sleep.
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But as you continue into stage 2, your brain begins to inhibit processing and ignores external stimuli that it deems non-dangerous
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in order to relax you and give you a tranquil sleep.
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It also begins memory consolidation, in which information you learn is processed.
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Waking out of these stages has shown benefits, including increased productivity, increased cognitive function, enhanced memory, boosted creativity,
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and most importantly, feeling less tired.
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Beyond 30 minutes, you enter stage 3 and experience something known as sleep inertia when awakened.
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Because your body is coming out of a deep sleep, motor dexterity is decreased while grogginess and the longing to go back to sleep increases.
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Many people falsely deem naps non-beneficial for themselves, but the truth is, they have simply napped too long.
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As the benefits of napping become clearer, many nap salons have opened throughout Japan,
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where workers can pay to have a brief lunchtime nap on a daybed to increase alertness at work.
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So, maybe it's about time we all start sleeping on the job a little more.
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Just tell your boss "Science said so".
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Got a burning question you want answered?
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Ask it in the comments or on facebook and twitter.
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