Listen to enough productivity gurus, and it’s simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Premier League footballers swear by it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists and business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or employment that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep science specialist. “The first is termed recovery napping, essentially what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating sleep loss ahead, such as during overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about the wish: there is a chance to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (depending on what time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies on the subject, experts discovered that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around concerning the perfect length of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research indicates it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals recommend adopting the same protocol you use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
