Listen to enough self-improvement experts, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. However, if you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes a professor of sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for instance during graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically is about desire: you get a chance to doze during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to do, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for instance, for a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping since your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that napping ought not to be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around regarding the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies indicates it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for a long period, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to snooze in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
