Hear plenty of performance gurus, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or employment that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, which is what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit in the future, for instance when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply boils down to desire: you get a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – such as, for a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
Therefore that naps ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on when you retire overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around regarding the ideal number of time, however, that can make people feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals suggest adopting similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that you should simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and basically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination available to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
