You Can Get Some of the Benefits of Sleeping While You’re Still Awake
We all need more sleep. While adults typically need to sleep more than seven hours a night, more than a third of Americans average less than that , despite the fact that chronic sleep deprivation has well-known effects on our overall health, such as increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. But while there is no substitute for good sleep, as it turns out, there are a few ways to take advantage of some of the benefits of sleep while we are awake.
As studies show , we spend about half of our day in the so-called “offline state,” when we are oblivious to our immediate surroundings—when we daydream or otherwise let our minds wander. We tend to think of it as a waste of time, but as it turns out, being in this offline state has its benefits, including memory consolidation. (Researchers have long known that 30 to 90 minutes of sleep after learning helps remember new information, but who has time for that?)
What is “offline rest for wakefulness”?
Research shows that closing your eyes and resting for a few minutes, called “wake offline rest,” can provide the same benefits as post-workout naps. Offline waking rest is defined as a period of time when you are apparently not paying attention to any external stimuli or internal cognitive task. Instead, it is a period when you close your eyes and let your mind wander, paying no obvious attention to anything in the environment and not trying to focus on one thing in particular.
In a meta-analysis published in 2019 , researchers found that 15 minutes of offline rest helped consolidate memory, including recalling the details of a short story. So the next time you need to memorize new information, take a few minutes to close your eyes and let your thoughts wander. Taking a short break will probably help you retain information and also give you a few moments of peace in a busy world.