Tune into enough self-improvement gurus, and you'll be easy to think that dozing is a superpower: not just a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes swear by it – as do musicians, fighters and business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that allows frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep science researcher. “The first is termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for example when working on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps must not be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (based on when you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study on the subject, experts found that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there about the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest employing similar routines you’d use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” notes an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to wait for an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
