Hear enough self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science specialist. “The first is termed compensatory napping, that is what happens following insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about desire: you get a chance to nap during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to consider, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you nap since your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
Therefore that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on when you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the ideal number of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science would say it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend using the same protocol one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to merely snooze in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep to begin with. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – such as, if attempting to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
