Listen to plenty of self-improvement gurus, making it easy to convince yourself that napping is a superpower: more than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players are all at it – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “The first is termed recovery napping, which is the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to desire: there is a moment to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, for a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and should get up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose adopting similar routines you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that you should just doze in a chair in whatever light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially command yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – such as, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
