Hear a few self-improvement experts, making it easy to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a route to enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Professional athletes are all at it – as do professional piano players, fighters and media moguls. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for napping among most adults,” says a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “One is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what happens following insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get a moment to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap as your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that napping shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you sleep at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research would say it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest using the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the place your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” says a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
