Hear enough self-improvement experts, making it tempting to believe that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional athletes are all at it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & media moguls. However, if you lack a room for napping or employment that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, essentially what you do following insufficient sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for example when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you get a chance to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – for example, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations about the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “The science would say it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing similar routines you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the place your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be some drive available to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for example, when aiming to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
