Listen to a few performance gurus, making it simple to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite footballers are all at it – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for napping for many people,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “One is termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take following a lack of sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for example when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply boils down to wanting: there is a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, for a new parent, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap since your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies would say it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – while if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts propose adopting comparable habits you’d use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and basically tell yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination present to start the process initially. I can usually take a nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
