You need seven to nine hours of z's for everything from maintaining memory to protecting heart health to keeping your waistline trim.
Substituting a little lost sleep with a nap during the day can also be as good as getting a full nights worth. Research has shown that splitting sleep into segments not only is fine but also still gives you the mental and physical benefits you would get from a solid eight hours. “If youve lost sleep for just one or two nights, a 20-minute nap during those days will do,” says Sara Mednick, PhD, author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life. “If youre chronically sleep-deprived, nap for 90 minutes each day.”
Here's your get-more-sleep plan. Find a nap-pod service near you. MetroNaps, the company that commercialized napping, has pods—small booths you can lie down and snooze in—in New York City, the Miami International Airport, and spas in North Carolina and Georgia. Companies can even purchase pods for employees. (Something for the suggestion box at work?) Theres Yelo, too, a New York City–based napping-and-spa service that provides a massage before your nap. Of course, you can always nap at home or in your office—just be sure you have a comfortable place where you wont be disturbed.
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