Tune into plenty of self-improvement gurus, and you'll be simple to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers do it regularly – along with professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. However, if you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the effort? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit coming up, such as if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to desire: you get an opportunity to doze during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to do, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors outside your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap since your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it should be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that naps ought not to be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study on the subject, experts found that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around concerning the ideal number of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Studies indicates it’s better to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – however, if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals suggest adopting similar routines you’d use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually snooze during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – such as, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
