Tune into a few productivity gurus, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Elite soccer players swear by it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions and business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” says an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as recovery napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for instance during overnight shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (based on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science suggests it’s better to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts recommend employing comparable habits you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – such as, if attempting to grab a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
