Hear a few self-improvement experts, and you'll be easy to think that dozing is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional athletes are all at it – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” says an expert sleep science researcher. “One is what we call recovery napping, which is what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for example if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to desire: you get an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap because your night sleep is unstable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that naps must not be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies indicates it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines one would use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could just doze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – for example, if attempting to grab 40 winks on a train or at the office – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
