Hear a few self-improvement podcasters, making it easy to believe that napping is a superpower: not just a band-aid after restless night, but a route to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Professional footballers are all at it – along with musicians, fighters & media moguls. However, if you lack a room for napping or a job that allows daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to justify the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, that is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, such as when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply is about desire: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “But if you nap because your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep must not be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (based on what time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around regarding the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists propose adopting similar routines you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” says an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically tell yourself to go to sleep. You need some drive there to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually snooze in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to look for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
