Hear a few productivity gurus, making it tempting to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes are all at it – as do musicians, UFC champions & media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or employment that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as recovery napping, essentially the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, when you are anticipating sleep loss ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to the wish: there is a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons outside your control – for example, for a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap because your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study on the subject, experts noted that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the ideal number of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. Some experts propose employing similar routines one would use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should just doze in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” notes an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive present to start the process initially. I can usually snooze in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to wait for a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
