A guide to the best nap spots on Uni of Leeds campus

A blanket is optional, low self-esteem is guaranteed

2 years ago

The tactical nap is a fine art; those lucky souls who have mastered the ability to slip in and out of consciousness are the envy of the Red Bull chuggers amongst us. The dilemma of every study session – whether to find a place to nap or to crack open another energy drink – really depends on whether you can find somewhere comfortable and socially acceptable enough to grab 20 minutes of shut-eye.

As we move once more into dissertation season, let us review the options available for the stressed-out student. Here is a selection of the best spots on campus for a cheeky nap; all have been peer-reviewed, rigorously tested and ranked for your consideration.

Library Booths

All the libraries benefit from comfy booths where you can study, collaborate, and drift off to the steady clicks of your neighbour’s keyboard. Cleanliness and silence are ensured and, if you can contort around the table legs you can wedge yourself in quite comfortably. Floor 10 of Eddy B and the re-opened communal space in Health Sciences both have longer benches to lounge on.

You will be heavily judged if you book a booth just for yourself or overstay your timeslot, so keep an alarm and find a fellow insomniac to keep watch.

Common Ground

Between scattered sofas, comfy high-back chairs and some confusingly placed deckchairs, common ground is the procrastination destination of choice. You can fool yourself into trying to work, but the temptation to people-watch or to snooze is strong.

Despite ample space if you can grab a seat (best before midday or after 5pm), the general humdrum of student chatter and the heavenly scents from Wok’n Go provide ample distractions. Turn your whale noises up to maximum and pray that your crush doesn’t catch you snoring away.

EC Stoner and Skybridge Sofas

Despite all the sleep deprivation and multiple Lana Del Rey albums, I was unable to get comfortable here.

The corridors are noisy and often crowded, drafty in winter and greenhouses in summer. The only scrubbing the benches have ever received are the rubs of thousands of bums (some cleaner than others). Still, it gives you something to stress about other than deadlines.

Worsley Floor 8

Applicable to Nursing, Dental, Medical, Midwifery and all healthcare students pulling an all-nighter in the LGI. Since the pandemic, the eight floor remains largely empty, except for a few lost first years. However, there are a couple of study-booths and longer soft-benches at the end of each corridor, ideal for naps between clinics and after stressful dissection classes.

There are beds on the ninth floor, but I really don’t recommend borrowing those.

Roger Stevens and Lecture Theatres

Another casualty of remote-learning is the in-person lecture, which has not returned for many courses. As such, most lecture theatres remain unused and empty for most of the day. I’ve napped in the Worsley lecture theatre pre-Covid, and the opportunity to do so is even greater now. With endless leg space and a silent (often darkened) room, you can schedule your naps by the hour if you read the timetables correctly.

High risk and high reward. Even better if your seminar is in that room next.

Business School Ester Simpson

If you haven’t seen the Ester Simpson building – go. Everything is brand new and shiny, the café is beautifully upholstered and the first floor lecture theatre is the sort of venue where world peace summits are held. However, it is nearly completely void of sleeping locations – an unacceptable oversight by the architects.

The sustainable café on ground floor is the only location, but it will suffice for the sleepy LUBS students amongst us. Sofas, soft chairs, and excellent privacy, you are afforded the choice of napping or caffeinating yourself back into productivity.

If you’re still struggling to doze off, ask one of the Economics students about their thesis – that’ll do the trick.