Problem
It’s about 1PM and you’re cranky as hell.
Solution
Nap. No, really—a study in Personality and Individual Differences says it’ll make you less angry.
Method
Researchers gathered participants in the lab at around 1PM and made them do a bunch of irritating tests, which were designed to measure how long they’d stick to something frustrating.
They had to copy a series of geometric patterns from a computer screen to a sheet of paper, all without tracing a line twice or lifting the pen from their paper. About half of the time, the task was actually impossible, but researchers were more interested in how long people tried.
Then, half the volunteers napped while half the volunteers watched a nature documentary. Then, everyone did the test again.
Results
The nappers were more willing to tolerate a frustrating task than the non-nappers. In fact, those who watched nature documentaries gave up after forty-five seconds on average, whereas the nappers put in ninety seconds of pointless drawing.
The Takeaway
Life’s little frustrations aren’t going to get any less frustrating so why not take a nap? You’re going to slow down in the afternoon anyway—might as well improve your mood.
