Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players swear by it – as do musicians, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” says an expert sleep science professor. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, which is what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, such as when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to wanting: you have a chance to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you retire at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts found that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the optimal amount of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science would say it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that you should simply nap in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bed as the space your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive available to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to look for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – such as, when aiming to grab some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
