Tune into enough performance experts, making it tempting to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers are all at it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a special sleep space or employment that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, essentially what you do following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, for instance during on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to desire: you get a chance to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to do, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide 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 wake. “The science would say it's more effective to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose adopting the same protocol one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze in a chair in the existing light is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination present to start the process initially. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
