Listen to plenty of self-improvement gurus, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite soccer players are all at it – and so are professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is known as compensatory napping, which is the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for instance during overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to desire: you get an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted because of factors outside your control – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night feels fragile or poor, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (based on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the ideal number of time, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science would say it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that you should just doze in a chair in whatever light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in full light and awaken on my own without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
