So I read this article on the air this morning that essentially talks about the benefits combo-ing up coffee and a 20 minute nap. I’ll admit, this information came as a relief. Working in morning radio not only means you’re working a dying industry, it also means working what I would characterize as a hybrid 1st/3rd shift. Which means that more often than not, I’m taking an afternoon nap. And I’m not talking a quick, 20 minute, hit the reset button nap. I’m talking about a 1-2 hour nap where you wake up and you don’t know what year it is or what your name is.
Well, for MANY years, I would always grab a coffee from the Starbucks or Dunkin’ by work after I punched out, drink it, then eat some lunch and take one of these coma/naps. It baffled by wife, Lindsey, that I could drink a venti (large) and promptly be in Stage 4 REM sleep. And it honestly concerned me as well. People drink coffee to load up on caffeine to get through their day, and here I am chugging down my mocha choco lata yaya from Starbucks and almost instantly falling asleep.
It turns out, I was doing it correctly the whole time! According to said article, combo-ing up coffee and a nap is the perfect way to maximize that nap. There’s a lot of technical jargon in the article as well that explains why that is, but the gist is that you end up getting more ‘restorative’ sleep. I think a ‘before/after’ picture of me from my first day on the morning show to now would probably beg to differ on just how ‘restorative’ it is, but hey, I’m willing to buy into something my body is actually doing properly. Hear hear!
*Live look at everyone else on the planet reacting to morning radio DJ’s talking about when their alarm clock goes off:
We’ve got a guy in the building that will not so subtly work into every conversation how he gets up so much earlier than everybody else. Plot twist that person is me.
PS: Can’t talk about naps and not reference this Costanza clip:
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