Tune into enough self-improvement experts, making it easy to believe that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Professional soccer players swear by it – as do musicians, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, that is what you do following a lack of sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
Therefore that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research about napping, experts discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around concerning the optimal amount of time, yet that often cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies suggests it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend employing similar routines you use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that you should simply nap in a chair in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to command,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
