Tune into a few self-improvement experts, making it simple to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following restless night, but a route to a better memory, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite footballers do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists and business leaders. However, if you lack a room for napping or a job that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, which is what happens following poor sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for example during on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping as your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around about the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science indicates it is preferable to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest adopting comparable habits you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that you should just doze on a couch in whatever light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” notes a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to look for a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should options are scarce – for example, if attempting to grab 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
