Listen to a few performance podcasters, making it tempting to think that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. But if you lack a special sleep space or employment that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “One is known as compensatory napping, that is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to desire: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that naps ought not to be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that space travelers experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science would say it is preferable to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend adopting comparable habits one would use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could simply nap in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the space your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” says a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
