Listen to a few self-improvement experts, making it easy to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players swear by it – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists & business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that permits regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the effort? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is termed compensatory napping, which is what you do following a lack of sleep the night before. The second is preparatory napping, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to the wish: there is a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, for a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that naps shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on the time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies would say it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest using the same protocol one would use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that you should merely snooze on a couch in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” explains an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive present to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
