Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, and it’s simple to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route towards improved recall, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Is there a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is known as make-up sleep, essentially what you do following poor sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are preparing for sleep loss coming up, for example during overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to wanting: you get a moment to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study about napping, experts discovered that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research would say it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest adopting comparable habits one would use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to look for a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – such as, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
