Hear a few performance gurus, and you'll be easy to believe that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes swear by it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you lack a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, essentially the action you take following poor sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply is about wanting: there is a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – for example, for a parent of a newborn, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping as your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that napping must not be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists noted that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people doze off quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies suggests it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend using comparable habits you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could merely snooze on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bed as the environment your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to fall asleep. You need some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists most folks is to look for a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
