Listen to a few self-improvement podcasters, and you'll be simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions and media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for napping for many people,” explains a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “One is what we call make-up sleep, which is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for example during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to wanting: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors outside your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap as your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (based on the time you retire overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more stressed above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies would say it is preferable to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest employing the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze in a chair in whatever light is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to command,” says an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive available to initiate sleep in the first place. Personally, I can often nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – such as, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
