Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, and it’s simple to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Professional footballers do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is known as recovery napping, which is what you do following insufficient sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to the wish: you have an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that naps ought not to be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on the time you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies about napping, experts noted that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science suggests it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure there to start the process to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for example, when aiming to grab 40 winks on a train or at the office – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
