Tune into a few performance experts, making it easy to believe that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with concert pianists, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for napping for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, that is what happens following insufficient sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is a chance to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to consider, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on when you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations about the perfect length of minutes, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science suggests it’s better to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing comparable habits you’d use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that one could simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” notes an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to nod off. You need some drive available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
