Tune into enough performance experts, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that napping is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional footballers are all at it – as do musicians, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm professor. “One is termed make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for instance during graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to desire: you have a chance to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to do, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on what time you retire at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose adopting the same protocol one would use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in whatever light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually nap during the day and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
