Listen to enough performance gurus, and it’s easy to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a route towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players swear by it – as do concert pianists, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you lack a special sleep space or a career that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is known as compensatory napping, essentially what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, such as during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on the time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of recommendations about the perfect length of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more worried than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest employing comparable habits you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could merely snooze on a couch in the existing light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. You need some drive there to start the process initially. I can usually nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for example, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
