Hear enough performance podcasters, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a path to a better memory, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional athletes do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what you do following insufficient sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which basically is about the wish: you get an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to do, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on when you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists noted that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose using the same protocol one would use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to start the process initially. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – such as, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
