Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, making it easy to think that napping is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid after restless night, but a path towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Premier League athletes swear by it – and so are musicians, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is known as recovery napping, that is what happens when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for example when working overnight shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to do, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that naps must not be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much advice around regarding the ideal number for sleeping, however, that can cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies indicates it’s better to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend using the same protocol you’d use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that you should merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” explains an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
