Tune into enough performance gurus, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe quicker running times. Professional soccer players swear by it – along with concert pianists, fighters & high-profile executives. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the effort? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is known as compensatory napping, that is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit in the future, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap since your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that astronauts showed a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science suggests it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on the sofa in whatever light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to wait for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
