Hear enough productivity podcasters, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do musicians, UFC champions and media moguls. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a career that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, essentially the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Another is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss coming up, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: you get an opportunity to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons outside your control – for example, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap as your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not at the level required. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep must not be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on the time you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it’s better to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest using comparable habits you use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could just doze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and practically command yourself to nod off. You need some drive there to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to look for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
