Tune into plenty of performance podcasters, and it’s simple to think that napping is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science professor. “The first is what we call recovery napping, that is what happens when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on what time you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of time, however, that can cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research would say it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend adopting comparable habits you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that you should simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bed as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be some drive available to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to look for an instance that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
