I slept very badly last night. I don’t understand why, I even went to bed earlier than usual, but when the alarm clock rang I was dead to the world. And as a result I drug through most of the day.

I wasn’t planning on stopping to fit a power nap into my schedule because my time today was rather pressed with some issues I needed to resolve on projects that are almost finished. So I decided early today I would put off my power nap today in favor of trying to wrap up some lose ends.

This afternoon I hit a wall like I haven’t hit in a long time. I was pooped and could barely keep my eyes open. Not only did I have the afternoon in front of me, I also had a 3.5 hour long night class with which to contend when the “working” day was done!

After struggling this afternoon with some problems I couldn’t find the solution to, a pending night class and running into the wall and being unable to keep my eyes open, I opted to take my power nap after all.

During my nap, I found that I almost immediately started dreaming. I must have been seriously tired to actually fall all the way asleep – that hasn’t happened before. In the dream I remember sitting down and writing on a piece of paper. I was watching from behind myself – so I didn’t see what I was writing. It was an odd perspective – to watch myself write as I tried to look over my own shoulder.

After some time passed – I don’t have any idea how long but only likely a few minutes – I got up and walked away. Once “I” was gone, I zoomed in to try to get a look at the paper. The words and drawing on the page swam and changed as I tried to look at what it said, but I noticed what appeared to be a few key words that remained steady.

Almost with a jolt I awoke. I looked at my PC and the timer said I officially had 2 minutes and 3 seconds left on my nap. What I remembered though were the key words from my dream. They gave me an idea about one of the problems I had been trying to solve before my nap – so I started fresh trying to solve my problem and within 10 minutes I had taken a new approach that I was so very close to before my nap and I had solved the issue.

I think if I hadn’t taken the time to squeeze my nap in I would still be fighting with that problem and I would be having a hard time keeping my eyes open to boot. It also provided the added benefit of allowing my brain the time it needed to digest the problems I’d been facing and provide me with a solution. Hooray for power napping!