Listen to plenty of performance gurus, and it’s easy to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after restless night, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Elite soccer players are all at it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists and business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for napping for many people,” notes an expert circadian rhythm specialist. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, that is what happens following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to the wish: you get an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, for a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep must not be too extended to affect your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the ideal number of time, however, that can make people feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies would say it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more alert. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose using similar routines you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that you should simply nap on a couch in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive available to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually snooze in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists most folks is to look for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
