Tune into plenty of productivity gurus, and it’s easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Elite footballers do it regularly – as do musicians, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, that is what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for example during graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: you have an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off quickly,” says a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science indicates it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose adopting similar routines you’d use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch in the existing light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” notes a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – such as, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
