Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, and it’s easy to think that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a route towards improved recall, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Professional soccer players are all at it – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the effort? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” says a leading sleep science professor. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for example during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you have an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, for caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you take it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose adopting similar routines one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that you should merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” notes a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
