Tune into a few productivity experts, making it tempting to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, fighters and media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, such as when working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that can be a sign your need for sleep is not at the level required. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you sleep at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the ideal number of time, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it’s better to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – however, if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest employing comparable habits you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could just doze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” notes a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination present to start the process in the first place. I can usually take a nap during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will