Tune into enough self-improvement podcasters, making it tempting to think that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the effort? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “The first is what we call recovery napping, essentially the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically comes down to the wish: you have a chance to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to do, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your night sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not where it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that napping must not be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science suggests it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol one would use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” notes an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to recline and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep initially. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
