My Secret Super Power

In high school, my Dad shared one simple secret with me that has saved my bacon countless times since.

The power nap.

Seriously, folks.

Fifteen to twenty minutes- no more, no less- is the perfect amount of time to recharge your batteries and give you a boost of energy that lasts for hours.

This is how I do it.

I take an egg timer, or my cell phone timer, and set it for either 15 or 20 minutes {depending on how tired I feel or what kind of time frame I have}. I get comfy, close my eyes, and try my best to shut off my brain. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes not so much- but surprisingly the nap will still be effective, so long as your are relaxed with your eyes closed.

When the timer goes off, I often feel no desire to get up and moving. But if I force myself up, inevitably within a few minutes I get a surge of energy.

I attempt to make this my practice every day when my children nap. While I long to use nap time productively, I often feel really run down by this point in the day. If I take a power nap as soon as I get them tucked in, it leaves me with plenty of time to get stuff done after my mini-nap, and I feel much more up to the task.

The energy carries me through the most difficult part of our day- the last couple hours before Dad gets home- pre-dinner "witching hour."

I will say that if you are truly exhausted- like in the early newborn days, or the first trimester of a pregnancy, taking a power nap is like trying to slap a band-aid on a gaping wound :). But for just your normal everyday motherhood tired, it can be a super-effective tool.

Does the power nap work for you? Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!