Tune into a few productivity experts, and you'll be easy to think that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Professional footballers are all at it – along with musicians, UFC champions and media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or a job that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, which is what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, for example if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply is about the wish: you have an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – for example, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that can be a sign your need for sleep is not where it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on what time you retire at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research on the subject, space agency scientists found that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the perfect length of time, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “The science would say it's more effective to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
Regarding specific techniques, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” says an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – such as, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
