Listen to enough performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix following poor sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or employment that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, that is what happens following poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to wanting: you have a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to do, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on when you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it's more effective to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest adopting the same protocol one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there 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, though, what aids many individuals is to look for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
