Listen to plenty of self-improvement gurus, and it’s easy to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players are all at it – along with musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, which is what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, such as when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to the wish: you have an opportunity to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap because your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (based on the time you go to bed in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Studies would say it's more effective to have a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, advice differs. Some experts recommend using comparable habits you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to look for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
