Listen to enough performance experts, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a path towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “The first is termed compensatory napping, which is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for example if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you nap since your night sleep is unstable or poor, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on when you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists noted that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there about the perfect length of time, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists suggest using similar routines you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination available to start the process to begin with. I can usually nap during the day and awaken on my own without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
