Hear a few self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to believe that dozing is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers do it regularly – and so are musicians, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes a leading sleep science researcher. “One is what we call recovery napping, that is what you do following a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to wanting: there is an opportunity to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to do, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap since your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on when you go to bed in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the ideal number of time, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science suggests it’s better to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose adopting similar routines you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that you should just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to will,” explains a specialist. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive present to start the process initially. I can usually take a nap during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – such as, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
