Listen to a few performance gurus, and you'll be easy to think that napping is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid after restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players are all at it – as do musicians, UFC champions and media moguls. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the effort? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap for many people,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is what we call recovery napping, that is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about the wish: there is a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that napping ought not to be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies suggests it’s better to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “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, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for a long period, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals suggest using comparable habits you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on the sofa in the existing light is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” says an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to recline and essentially tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to start the process in the first place. I can usually nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for example, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
