Tune into enough productivity experts, making it easy to think that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players are all at it – and so are musicians, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm professor. “One is what we call compensatory napping, that is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting sleep loss ahead, such as during on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about the wish: you have a moment to nap in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This implies that naps ought not to be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on what time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that crew members had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the ideal number of minutes, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science indicates it's more effective to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol you’d use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” explains an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps most folks is to wait for an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying 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 footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
