Tune into a few performance podcasters, making it easy to think that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the effort? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, essentially the action you take following insufficient sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for sleep loss coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about the wish: you get a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping as your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on when you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to make people feel more anxious above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Studies would say it is preferable to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend using comparable habits you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch in the existing light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if you have few options – such as, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
