Listen to plenty of productivity gurus, making it easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional footballers do it regularly – and so are musicians, fighters and media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap among most adults,” says a leading sleep science specialist. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, such as when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically is about desire: you have a moment to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to undertake, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “The science would say it’s better to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it will affect your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that one could just doze on a couch in the existing light is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bed as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination there to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – such as, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
