Listen to a few productivity experts, and you'll be easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, better spirits and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers are all at it – and so are professional piano players, fighters & business leaders. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit in the future, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you have a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that naps must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations about the ideal number of time, however, that can make people feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to nod off is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research would say it is preferable to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – while if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Right Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists propose employing comparable habits you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that you should just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive there to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – for example, when aiming to grab some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
