Hear enough performance experts, making it easy to believe that napping is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid after restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional athletes do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, fighters & business leaders. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as compensatory napping, essentially the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically is about desire: there is a moment to doze during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping because your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that napping shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on when you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. Some experts recommend employing comparable habits one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze on the sofa in whatever light is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to will,” explains an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and basically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to look for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for example, if attempting to fit in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
