Tune into a few performance experts, making it simple to believe that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. Yet, when you lack a special sleep space or a job that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is what we call make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for sleep loss coming up, such as when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is a chance to nap during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, when you are a new parent, or recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap since your night sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science suggests it’s better to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest using comparable habits you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically command yourself to nod off. There must be some drive there to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to look for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if you have few options – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
