Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix following restless night, but a path to a better memory, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes an expert sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, that is the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, when you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to desire: you have an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists noted that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the ideal number of time, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state upon waking. “Research suggests it’s better to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to send you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Finding the Right Snooze Setting
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. Some experts recommend employing comparable habits you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
