Listen to enough self-improvement podcasters, making it easy to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as recovery napping, essentially the action you take following a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, such as during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about wanting: you get a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping because your sleep at night seems unreliable 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 part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and best should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on what time you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists noted that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much advice around concerning the perfect length of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to send you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and practically command yourself to nod off. There must be some drive present to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to look for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for example, when aiming to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
