Listen to enough self-improvement experts, and it’s simple to believe that a nap is a superpower: more than a quick fix following poor sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Professional footballers are all at it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, essentially the action you take following a lack of sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The primary task to do, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on the time you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to take an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – however, if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” explains a specialist. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight 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 then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
