Listen to enough performance podcasters, and it’s simple to believe that napping is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional footballers are all at it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap among most adults,” notes a professor of sleep science professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for instance during on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to desire: there is a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors beyond your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on what time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the perfect length of time, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science indicates it's more effective to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – while if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest employing comparable habits you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that you should merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” says a specialist. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There must be some drive available to start the process to begin with. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to wait for a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to fit 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 suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
