Tune into plenty of self-improvement gurus, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional athletes are all at it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions and media moguls. However, if you lack a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for napping for many people,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “One is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to desire: you get a chance to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors outside your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on the time you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies would say it's more effective to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Nap Environment
When it comes to specific techniques, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest employing comparable habits you use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap 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 *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap while traveling 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, as they’re going to have|they will
