Listen to enough self-improvement gurus, making it easy to believe that napping is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional footballers are all at it – along with musicians, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, that is what happens following insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for instance when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not where it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state upon waking. “The science indicates it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to start the process to begin with. I can usually nap during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for example, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
