Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that napping is a superpower: more than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for napping for many people,” says an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to desire: you have a chance to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to consider, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on the time you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most referenced research about napping, experts found that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the perfect length of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the worst thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going 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's more effective to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you take it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose using similar routines one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that you should just doze in a chair in the existing light is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the place your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” notes a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if you have few options – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
