Listen to plenty of performance experts, making it simple to think that dozing is a superpower: not just a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite footballers do it regularly – along with musicians, fighters & business leaders. However, if you lack a room for napping or a job that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” explains a professor of sleep science specialist. “The first is termed recovery napping, essentially what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for example during overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to wanting: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that napping shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research would say it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing similar routines one would use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Some advise that you should merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” says a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – such as, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
