Listen to plenty of productivity experts, and it’s simple to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Professional soccer players do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you lack a room for napping or a job that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “The first is what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for example if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to the wish: you get a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study on the subject, experts discovered that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research would say it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose adopting similar routines you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on a couch in the existing light is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive available to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually snooze in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
