Listen to plenty of self-improvement podcasters, making it simple to think that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Professional athletes are all at it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and high-profile executives. However, if you lack a room for napping or employment that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as make-up sleep, that is what happens following a lack of sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting sleep loss coming up, such as when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically is about wanting: there is a moment to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that napping ought not to be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on the time you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. In one of the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Studies would say it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists propose adopting the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze in a chair with ambient lighting is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There must be some drive available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to grab some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
