Tune into enough performance gurus, making it tempting to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite footballers swear by it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm professor. “One is what we call compensatory napping, essentially the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is a moment to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies indicates it's more effective to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest using similar routines you’d use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” says a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive there to start the process to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
