Expert: Imran R. - 4/19/2007

Question
What would be the more
effective form of sleep?
A straight say 8 hours of sleep at night or 7 hours of
sleep at night with a few short naps in the day,
amounting to 1 hour?Please quote any scientific
research done in this subject-matter if available.

Answer
Dear Hafidz,

It honestly depends on the individual. Naps during the day are quite beneficial. However with certain people, napping during the day does not allow them to fall asleep easily at night until the later hours.

One needs to experiment individually and observe the results to one's physiology. I would therefore not look to studies on this one, as we are all very different; a persons body type, astrological sign, gender, age, weight, current health state, part of the world they live in, type of bed, sleeping environment and so on, all need to be taken into account.

Best wishes,

Imran