Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, making it simple to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite footballers do it regularly – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists & media moguls. However, if you lack a room for napping or employment that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science professor. “One is termed recovery napping, essentially what happens following a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, for instance during overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to desire: you have an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap as your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on the time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science suggests it is preferable to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for a long period, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend using comparable habits one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Some advise that one could just doze in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and practically command yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps 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 should you have few options – such as, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
