Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and it’s easy to think that a nap is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Elite athletes swear by it – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is known as compensatory napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, when you are preparing for sleep loss ahead, for example during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about desire: you have a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping as your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on when you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the perfect length of time, however, that can make people feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend adopting similar routines you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination available to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to look for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
