Listen to enough performance podcasters, making it simple to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – as do concert pianists, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” says an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is what we call compensatory napping, that is what happens following a lack of sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, such as when working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically is about wanting: you have a chance to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – for instance, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists noted that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the ideal number of minutes, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science indicates it’s better to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you’d use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, 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 happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially command yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually nap during the day and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to look for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
