Tune into plenty of self-improvement experts, and you'll be easy to think that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, fighters and media moguls. Yet, when you lack a special sleep space or a job that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes a leading circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, essentially what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to the wish: you have a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that can be a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among a prominent study about napping, experts noted that space travelers experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts recommend employing the same protocol one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could simply nap on a couch in whatever light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” notes a specialist. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and basically command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to look for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
