Tune into plenty of performance podcasters, making it easy to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Professional athletes swear by it – as do musicians, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, essentially what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap since your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not where required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around regarding the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science indicates it's more effective to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Right Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend adopting comparable habits you use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and practically instruct yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
