Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, making it tempting to think that a nap is a superpower: rather than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and media moguls. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep science specialist. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for example when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about wanting: you get a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that napping must not be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, space agency scientists noted that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – most people are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “You'll find much advice around regarding the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “The science indicates it’s better to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose adopting comparable habits you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that you should just doze in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a time when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
