2025.12.25 – One Hour to Stay Awake: A Power-Nap Countdown to a Late Bus

Key Takeaways

• This piece is about a power nap, sleep inertia, and simple ways to stay awake when a late bus is close.
• A short nap can help, but a long nap can bring heavy grogginess.
• Light, water, and a little movement can lift alertness for a short time.
• Careful timing and two alarms can protect a fixed departure.

Story & Details

The night problem

On December twenty-third, twenty twenty-five, a very tired man faced a small but hard task: stay awake for one more hour so he would not miss his bus.

He said the tiredness was huge. He wanted to lie on the floor and sleep. He made a sound of pure frustration. But he could not sleep yet, not even for a minute.

The clock mattered. It was 22:14 local time / 05:14 Dutch time (Netherlands, Europe). The bus was set for 23:15 local time / 06:15 Dutch time (Netherlands, Europe). One hour can feel short on paper. When sleep pulls like a weight, it can feel endless.

The quick rescue

The answer did not try to be heroic. It met the moment with a human tone and one clear aim: “hold on without dying.”

First came the simplest tools. A big glass of water. Bright light. Standing up, not sinking into a soft seat. A cold splash to the face. A short burst of easy movement, not as sport, just as a reset. Slow breathing helped too, with a longer out-breath than in-breath, to clear the fog without making the body too calm.

The thin line between rest and risk

A short nap was treated like a sharp instrument: useful only when kept short. The idea was not deep sleep. It was a brief drop of rest, with an alarm, then a fast return to light and water. The warning was simple: once a nap runs long, the wake-up can feel worse than the tiredness that came before.

Coffee had a place, but only as an option and only in a careful way. A small, well-timed cup can support alertness close to departure. Too much, too late, can steal the real sleep that comes after the bus ride begins.

A tiny Dutch mini-lesson

Dutch has short, direct sentences that fit moments like this. “Ik ben moe.” is a common, plain line for tiredness. It is friendly and normal. The simple meaning is “I am tired.” Word by word: “Ik” means “I,” “ben” means “am,” and “moe” means “tired.”

For the bus moment, “Waar is de bus?” is clear and useful. The simple meaning is “Where is the bus?” Word by word: “Waar” means “where,” “is” means “is,” “de” means “the,” and “bus” means “bus.” A natural close variant is “Waar is mijn bus?” with “mijn” meaning “my.”

The science underneath, in plain terms

Sleep inertia is the heavy, slow feeling after waking from deeper sleep. It is why a long nap can backfire when time is tight. Research on naps points to a trade-off: short naps can reduce sleepiness and lift mood, while longer naps can bring a rough wake-up window before the benefits settle in. A practical middle path often shows up in the same place: keep the nap brief, and give the brain a few minutes to fully come back.

In the end, the story stayed simple. One hour. One bus. Water, light, movement, and a short rest only if it stayed truly short. Then two alarms, everything packed early, and no soft place that could turn a blink into lost time. One last question hung in the air: was the wait happening at home, or already on the way to the terminal?

Conclusions

A late-night countdown can feel like a private storm. It is not about willpower alone. It is about small levers that buy a little time: a brighter room, a colder splash, a few steps, a short rest that stays short. Then the door, the street, and the bus—on schedule.

Selected References

• [1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/tips-to-master-the-power-nap
• [2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10091091/
• [3] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190033981/downloads/20190033981.pdf
• [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM

Appendix

Alertness

Alertness is the state of being awake and able to notice, think, and react.

Coffee nap

A coffee nap is a short nap taken right after drinking coffee, aiming for the caffeine to take effect near the moment of waking.

Dutch

Dutch is a language mainly used in the Netherlands (Europe) and parts of Belgium (Europe).

Dutch time

Dutch time is the local clock time used in the Netherlands (Europe).

Local time

Local time is the time shown on the clock where the person is located.

Power nap

A power nap is a short nap, often around ten to thirty minutes, meant to refresh without going deep into sleep.

Sleep inertia

Sleep inertia is the slow, groggy period after waking, especially after deeper sleep, when thinking and reaction can feel delayed.