Hear plenty of performance experts, and you'll be tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: not just a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Premier League athletes swear by it – and so are concert pianists, fighters & high-profile executives. But if you lack a special sleep space or a career that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap among most adults,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically comes down to wanting: you have a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to do, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you’re napping as your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists found that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research suggests it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – 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 get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose employing comparable habits you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in whatever light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. You need some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
