Listen to a few performance experts, making it simple to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players swear by it – as do musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is termed compensatory napping, that is what you do following poor sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to the wish: you have an opportunity to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to do, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, for a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that naps ought not to be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies indicates it is preferable to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend using comparable habits you’d use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that one could just doze on the sofa in whatever light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination present to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
