Tune into plenty of performance experts, and you'll be tempting to believe that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes do it regularly – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” says a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “One is what we call compensatory napping, that is the action you take when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to do, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the optimal amount of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose using the same protocol you’d use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that you should simply nap on the sofa in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” explains an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to recline and essentially command yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
