Tune into a few productivity gurus, and it’s tempting to believe that napping is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, such as during on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: you have a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap as your night sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists found that crew members had improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there about the optimal amount of time, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science would say it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits you’d use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that one could just doze in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. You need some drive present to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and awaken on my own without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – for instance, when aiming to grab some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
