Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, making it tempting to think that a nap is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid after restless night, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players swear by it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for napping among most adults,” explains an expert sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, which is what happens when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors outside your control – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “But if you nap because your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that can be an indicator your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations about the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it's more effective to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – however, if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts suggest employing similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” says a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – for example, when aiming to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
