Tune into plenty of productivity experts, and it’s tempting to think that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you don't have a room for napping or employment that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for napping for many people,” explains a leading sleep science specialist. “The first is known as make-up sleep, which is what happens when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on what time you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts found that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research indicates it's more effective to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – however, if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose employing similar routines you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could just doze on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and basically tell yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure there to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to look for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
