Tune into enough self-improvement gurus, and it’s simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite footballers do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists & media moguls. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for napping among most adults,” explains a leading circadian rhythm professor. “One is what we call make-up sleep, that is the action you take after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply is about wanting: you get a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on when you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more stressed above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Research suggests it is preferable to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend adopting comparable habits one would use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that you should simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” says an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
