Tune into enough performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to a better memory, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for napping for many people,” says a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is termed make-up sleep, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for example when working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to wanting: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap as your night sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the ideal number of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research suggests it is preferable to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – however, if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest adopting similar routines you’d use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that one could simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to start the process in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – such as, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
