Listen to a few productivity podcasters, making it simple to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – as do musicians, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, that is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating sleep loss ahead, such as when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to the wish: you get a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – most people doze off quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around about the ideal number of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Studies indicates it is preferable to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – however, if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend adopting similar routines you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” says a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to grab a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
