Listen to enough performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players do it regularly – and so are musicians, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for napping among most adults,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science professor. “The first is termed compensatory napping, that is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping because your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that napping shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your sleep at night, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on when you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the optimal amount of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies suggests it's more effective to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest using the same protocol you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch in the existing light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids many individuals is to look for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
