Hear plenty of performance experts, and you'll be simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers swear by it – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions and high-profile executives. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains an expert circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to desire: you get a moment to nap during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your sleep at night feels fragile or broken, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your sleep at night, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this included an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research indicates it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits one would use to foster a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in the existing light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure there to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – such as, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
