Tune into a few productivity gurus, and it’s easy to think that a nap is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Professional footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists and business leaders. Yet, when you lack a special sleep space or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for napping among most adults,” says an expert circadian rhythm professor. “One is what we call recovery napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, for example if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply is about wanting: you get a chance to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. In those cases, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on the time you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists found that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies would say it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for a long period, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that you should merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive present to start the process initially. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will