Listen to plenty of performance experts, making it easy to believe that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players do it regularly – along with professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a special sleep space or employment that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, essentially what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to the wish: you get a chance to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that napping shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research about napping, experts discovered that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies suggests it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals suggest adopting similar routines you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, 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 is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive available to initiate sleep initially. I can usually nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to look for a moment that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
