Tune into plenty of self-improvement experts, making it simple to believe that dozing is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players swear by it – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is known as make-up sleep, essentially the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which basically is about the wish: you get a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that napping shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep quickly,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. Though if you nap for a long period, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” explains a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially tell yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination available to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to look for a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for example, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
