Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be simple to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes are all at it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that encourages frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three key drivers for napping for many people,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as make-up sleep, which is what happens when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit in the future, for example during on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically is about wanting: you have an opportunity to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to do, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – such as, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping as your night sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep must not be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority fall asleep quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often make people feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies indicates it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you take it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend adopting comparable habits one would use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
