Tune into enough performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to think that a nap is a superpower: more than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Professional athletes do it regularly – as do musicians, mixed martial artists and media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is what we call compensatory napping, which is the action you take following a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about desire: you have a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on what time you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it's more effective to take an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” explains a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually nap in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a time when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
