National Napping Day 2017: Facts To Celebrate The Return Of Daylight Saving

National Napping Day is celebrated on the day following the return of daylight saving time to give people the opportunity to catch up on the hour of sleep that they lost out on when clocks shifted to the spring time.

A Boston University professor, William Anthony, has been credited with the creating of the event in 1999, primarily to emphasize on the importance of sleep. Anthony reportedly said at the time, “We chose this particular Monday because Americans are more ‘nap-ready’ than usual after losing an hour of sleep to daylight saving time.”

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Here are eight facts about naps that will encourage you to indulge in an afternoon siesta this Napping Day:

1. A short nap or relaxation is common in most European nations, except Germany. Countries like China, India, and parts of the Middle East also indulge in afternoon naps.

2. Research shows an hour’s nap can dramatically boost and restore the power of the brain. The findings show that a biphasic sleep schedule is helpful in not just refreshing the mind, but can also make a person smarter.

3. The best time to take in a nap is eight hours after waking up in the morning and eight hours before sleeping at night. An example of this would be that if you wake up at 6 a.m. and sleep by 10 p.m., the ideal time to nap would be 2:00 p.m.

4. The Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, has “nap pods” that allow employees to get some sleep by blocking out light and sound.

5. A study showed that pilots who took a 26-minute nap during flight (when the plane was managed by a copilot) improved performance by 34 percent and overall alertness by 54 percent.

6. Napping does not take away from your night-time sleep. On the other hand, studies have found that taking naps can increase a person’s ability to sleep for longer — 12 percent — at and reduce the time required to fall asleep by almost 14 percent.

7. Big names like John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and George W. Bush have been known to enjoy their afternoon naps.

8. Spain hosts an annual napping competition called the National Siesta Championship. Held in Madrid, the winner of the contest takes home a cash prize.