Listen to enough performance gurus, and it’s tempting to think that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & business leaders. But if you don't have a room for napping or employment that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the effort? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is termed make-up sleep, essentially what you do following insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping since your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and best should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research on the subject, experts found that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research suggests it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more alert. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists suggest employing the same protocol one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on a couch in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive present to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – such as, if attempting to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
