Listen to plenty of performance experts, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Professional footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that permits regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes a leading circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, which is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss in the future, such as during on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about the wish: you have a chance to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that naps shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study on the subject, experts noted that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination available to initiate sleep initially. I can usually take a nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if you have few options – such as, if attempting to grab some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use 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
